Seventeen Seconds
by WyldRabbit
Summary: After Vinnie's bond building burns down,Stephanie is faced with numerous obstacles that lead to a life changing event that rolls her life and her career in a new direction, and with all new meanings. This is suppose to line up with the 17th book of Janet's. I just wanted things to change.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

When I was 10 years old, my parents took my sister and I camping. To keep us from wandering too far away, my father told us to be careful,Indians still took scalps. I did not know anything about Native Americans and what they were capable of, but it scared the bejezzus out of me, and kept me from running off. I spent the whole vacation terrified that Indians would take me. I hardly slept. I even went as far as setting up traps. It wasn't until we got home, and I was bragging about our trip to my school mates, That I found out just how gullible I could be. My friends never let me forget it either. My whole sense of security dropped to the floor. To this day, I have a trust issue that won't go away. It had been like getting caught with my pants down.

My name is Stephanie Plum. It would be a lie to say that has changed. I still have trust issues, and sometimes those issues have legs. You may even want to go as far as to say I now have evolved from worrying about getting caught with my pants down, to it happening to me on more than one occasion. I grew up in a small community in Trenton, New Jersey with sidewalks for kids to roller-skate and couples to take walks. It has a charm and history that keeps my family here, me included. The community is close-knit. Most people know each other's business. Phone trees happen here. It is not just a myth. I live in an apartment, I have a hamster named Rex, half ownership of a big orange dog-beast named Bob, and from what I'm told, one third of a cop. I am Italian Hungarian. Born with a gift of good metabolism, and good hand gestures. The good metabolism is a blessing, at least till age forty-nine. If you don't change your diet by forty-nine, you'll blow up like a balloon. It's not a myth. I saw it happen to my aunt. I have brown shoulder length curly hair. I was told that curly hair is a gift, but I think that someone was teasing.

My job is what gets me into trouble. I need a paycheck, and that causes problems with my very hot boyfriend, Joseph Morelli. Joe has been in and out of my life since I was six years old. He has movie star good looks, and he is sexy as hell. Growing up, Joe was trouble. I was warned to stay away from him. As an adult, he has mellowed out. He is now the normal one. Domesticated Morelli is still wild on the inside; you can see it when he gets very angry. Most people move away from him when he is in a bad mood.

Morelli is a homicide detective with the Trenton P.D. He was always getting calls about dead guys, and he is afraid that the call he got would be about me. I think that he overreacts, and he thinks I need a different job. I am a bounty hunter. Maybe not a great bounty hunter, But it sounded really cool. I needed the job; and I needed the money. I was not about to move back in with my parents because I couldn't pay the rent.

It was early Friday morning. July in Jersey. It was only 7am and the street was already beginning to shimmer with heat. I was up early; I needed to pick up someone today. I had to. I was starving. I could find a different job, according to my mother. I could be supervisor at the personal products factory, but I guess she didn't know that I already worked at the personal products factory. I was doing well till my sweater got stuck in the machine, and it blew up. They had to close down for two weeks while it was replaced. They decided to let me go, something about me being a liability. For now, working for my cousin Vinnie is my way of paying bills. Plus, he probably won't fire me. I work on commission. Besides, family is family, and I can bribe with the best of them.

I sat in my new, very used POS Honda Civic. I was thinking about shoes and things I could buy, If I went ahead and did my job. I sighed, and decided to sashay over to Paul Banter's less than great apartment building, and let him know that I would love to escort his sorry little butt back to the police station, so he can get re-bonded. It's not a well-known fact to most of the people that I pick up, but that last part about the "re-bonding" it mostly doesn't happen. The ones that know this are usually harder to catch.

I picked up my cell phone and called Connie. Connie Rosolli was Vinnie's office manager. She looks like Betty Boop. If I were to describe her, I would say va-va-voom! Connie is as mob related as you could get. Her family ran with the big dogs, and she married into it. She is two years older than I am and graduated with my sister Valarie. She is two inches shorter, and has bigger boobs than I do. She likes to take it easy and make her own way, stay out of the family politics. Vinnie's bond's office is perfect for Connie. I asked her if she had tried Paul Banter's house phone yet. She said he wasn't answering, but that he had been seen trolling around the park occasionally. He was probably home.

I glanced through his file. Paul Banter was forty-nine years old. Arrested for assault. Says it wasn't his fault. Boy, that sounded familiar. I've used that line before. First offense. This should be easy. If I was lucky. Really lucky, I could get this taken care of, and head on over for some pancakes at Flappy Jacks. My stomach was growling. I was again, without money. My rent was due in a week; my food supply had been reduced to a few crackers, a couple frozen waffles, and a package of Top Ramen. You know you are out of food when you only have one more package of the Ramen. My Mom would have kittens if she knew I lived this high on the hog.

I tried to open the door to get out of my car. It was jammed. The door was stuck, it wouldn't open. I tried again, nothing. Great. I went for the window, pressed the electric lever, nothing happened. I groaned. What kind of car did I buy? I've had this car a week! I was beginning to suspect that this car wasn't owned by a little old lady that only drove it to the market and back. Don't panic, I told myself. Finally, the back window went half way down. Then it stopped. Well, this is a fine mess. Crawling over the middle console, I tried the door on the passenger side. The handle fell off in my hand. I sat there and contemplated my situation. How long could I put up with this? I really liked the Mini Cooper. I also really liked the Jeep, the Subaru, Morelli's SUV, the Porsche, the Sentra, the Mercedes; I even liked the Volkswagen Bug. I can honestly say, I hate this car. If Rockford were real, what would he do? Well, I will tell you what he'd do. He would take the day off. Go back to his place at the beach, park his butt in the nearest lawn chair, and pop open a cold one, because apparently, this day was going to suck. Get out while you can.

I glanced at my watch. People were starting to notice me. Nothing more interesting than a girl who can't get out of her car. Didn't people have lives? Groceries to buy? Jobs to get to? It was getting later, and hotter. I was starting to draw a crowd. One little hunched man walked up to the window and tapped on it. He tried to open the door from the outside. It would not budge. He opened his mouth a little too wide and was a little more vocal than I wanted him to be. He started yelling out suggestions on how to get out of the car.

"Pop the trunk. We will get you outta there!" He shouted. "Put the back seat down, and crawl out that way. Do you want me to call the Fire Department? "

Another man joined in. "Get outta the way, Missy. I can shoot out the window."

"No!" I yelled back. "No guns, no shooting! I'm OK. I am just looking for my.." I picked up the first thing I could find "My handle!"

"That's a fib!" He yelled. "You're stuck. Want me to call the Police?"

I furiously shook my head side to side. No! I did not want the Fire or the Police Department to see me stuck in my car. I knew most all of them on a first name basis. I was determined to not be the conversation piece of the day. I had gone a whole month without that happening. It was a good stretch. I was not blowing it today. This was so embarrassing. I was a sitting duck for ridicule. There were about five older gentlemen standing around my car, all gawking. I must have parked next to a rest home. Great. I was seriously considering just zapping myself with my stun gun, and hoping that when I woke up, it would be all over. So much for my early attempt at picking up a skip. I kept at the window, willing it to roll down. Next time, No electric windows! Finally, the back window went down about three fourths of the way, and I half crawled, half fell on my ass, but I was out. Applause and heckles were everywhere. Dusting myself off, I walked to the door of the car, and it opened. Oh. that's it. When someone finally took this car out, I would be happy. This car was so dead.

"That was a hoot." An old man said. "Can you come back tomorrow, and do it again? I could use more entertainment. It gets mighty boring around here. Next time, make sure you wear a shirt that shows off more cleavage, too."

Geez, Really? Finally, People started to walk away. No more dilemmas. People get bored.

I contemplated just getting back in my car, and driving away. Leaving this for another time, But I was already here. I had already made a scene. I might as well just keep my eye on the prize, take the bull by the horns, and get Banter anyway. Without this capture, Rex would have to start living at my parents. I guess I would too. I needed to get Paul Banter this morning. He was going down, And then Flappy Jacks. I started thinking that maybe the car wasn't the devil. It was just a fluke. Bad timing. It probably won't even happen again. It was a cute little Civic. The paint was faded maroon. It had a smashed in fender and almost bald tires, but it passed inspection. (just barely) Plus, the price was right.

I had given my Mini Cooper to the local scrap yard, care of a flatbed truck. Someone had decided that it was not the right color for me; they thought soot black was much more my style. So, until the insurance money came through, a four hundred dollar Honda was a great deal better than Uncle Sander's Buick. The Buick was indestructible, but the Buick was a beast. Hard to maneuver, expensive at the gas pump, and not at all invisible. When I had called my insurance adjuster about the Mini, he said that I was giving him hemorrhoids, his wife was not going to believe that anyone had this much bad luck, His trips out to evaluate damage were getting him in hot water. He suggested I might want to consider buying a tank next time.

Leaning against the car, I looked again at the apartment building. It was built in the 1980's when Trenton was doing a "Keep your City Beautiful" campaign. Trying to keep "The Garden State" image a reality. A crack house and a sweatshop had been torn down, the lot leveled, and "The Garden Apartments" were built. It worked for about a year. Now, this place was just another big square, where a lot of middle age, low tolerance, small time offenders lived. "The Garden Apartments" had a large actual garden with vegetables and trees when it was established. It also had a couple waterfalls. I had considered moving here at one point when it was new, but the neighborhood around it was still the same. Poor. It eventually gave into its surroundings. The waterfalls were stolen, and the gardens were dug up to make room for a swimming pool. I thought it had been a good idea, just the wrong neighborhood.

I was dressed right for an apprehension. Black jeans, stretchy halter top, sports bra, and running shoes. My hair was tied up in a pony tail. I had on Minimal jewelry and no earrings. Small things like that are important. You don't want someone to get a hold of you by a necklace or tear out your earring during a struggle. I was ready. My hair had cooperated this morning, and I'd only lost a little of my nerve by climbing out of the car window. I had my stun gun in my purse, my mace hooked to my belt, my handcuffs In my back pocket, with a full charge. I also had my cell phone. Am I prepared or what? I took the stairs up to Paul Banter's apartment. His door was slightly ajar, His TV was on. He was watching "The Guiding Light". Go figure. Spanish music was playing somewhere down the hall, and I think I smelled cooked onions, and curry. The carpet in the hall was dirty beige. The whole building looked like it was in need of repair and repainting. I rapped loudly on the door and a big hand grabbed it, and flung it open. I hadn't expected him to be waiting right behind it.

"What?!" He said in a loud boisterous voice.

I jumped back in surprise. I composed myself quickly. I had this.

"Paul Banter?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

I looked up at the man in front of me. He was a good six foot three, and must have weighed at least three hundred pounds. He looked like he had been lifting refrigerators instead of bar bells since the picture I had of him. I took a deep breath and cleared the fear from my throat, and gave him the spiel.

"My name is Stephanie Plum, I represent Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. You didn't show up for your court date. I need to take to get re-bonded." I reached over, and slapped a cuff on his wrist.

"What the, hey!"

I was in no mood to mess around, I took a hold of his other wrist, and he was cuffed. Flappy Jacks here I come. I found his keys to lock up his apartment. I proceeded to take hold of the cuffs. I realized then, that he had picked the lock on the cuffs while I was busy thinking I was the bomb. Damn. He grabbed my hair, and pushed me out of his apartment, and threw my cuffs at me. He screamed, "Loser!" As the door slammed shut. Shit! (At least I got my cuffs back.) Paul Banter was not going to get the best of me. I needed to go with plan B. Sometimes my plans went all the way to plan F before something went right. I knocked on his door again, he opened it to say I was a loser and to go away, but I zapped him.

OK. So here's the thing. When you zap someone with a stun gun, you have to figure out how in hell you are suppose to get them to the car. Especially from the third floor of an apartment building. I didn't know what Rockford would do in this situation, but I do know what Ranger would do. He always has back up, and he always looked cool. Not only that, but he always makes me want to do things to him that would make an x rated movie look sort of tame. Ranger was a problem. He was the other man in my life. He was my mentor, and my friend. From the day he had to rescue me from my shower curtain rod, he has been helping me. He was older than me by two months. Six foot of Cuban American goodness. Nothing seemed to phase him. I am not sure he was even human. Sometimes, I think he must be able to read minds, and possibly fly. Maybe Batman. I just wasn't sure D.C. Comics knows their super hero was out wandering around yet.

Ranger and I spent the night together once, and once was not enough for either of us. I try to keep my distance from him. I loved Joe, and he knew it. I also loved Ranger. He knew that, too. He felt the same about me, but he didn't want a relationship, and I needed one. So we kept our distance when it came to sleeping arrangements.

Joe and I were steadily moving fast forward to a bigger commitment with each other without realizing it was happening. My soap was in his shower, and his razor was in my bathroom. So calling Ranger might not go over so well. I tried hard to handle problems without him. Calling him also would put the fuse in a very confusing problem. I wanted him bad. He knew how I felt, and it made it even more difficult. He was like a cat, and I an unsuspecting mouse. I decided not to call him. I got this one. I would get Paul to the car myself. I wrapped Paul's legs together with some electrical tape, and went to find the super of the building. I bet I could get a handcart and get this mess worked out.

I found the super working with the pool skimmer.

"Hi!" I said flashing him my best smile. I looked at his work shirt for a tag. It read "Hester"

Hester was about five foot six and weighed about thirty pounds less than I did. I took him to be in his early forties. He had an early stoop that would likely get worse in time. He looked up from the duties of cleaning trash, beer cans and a diaper out of the pool. I guess life could get better for Hester.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

I brought out my hand and a business card "Stephanie Plum" I said. Shaking his cold wilted hand. I tried not to grimace. I wanted to wipe my hand on my shirt immediately after he let go, It was an act of sheer will that I didn't. I almost could feel cooties run up my arm.

He glanced down at the card and had to bring it up to his nose to read it with a squint.

"Stephanie Plum. Apprehension agent? Is that like a bounty hunter?"

"I represent Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. I have a man I need to pick up (literally) and bring in to get his court date rescheduled. He sort of fell over and passed out." (In layman's terms, I zapped him) "I am wondering if maybe you have a handcart or something like that I could use. He is on the third floor and I can't get him to the car by myself."

Hester Craig squinted at me sideways. "So I have a tenant who didn't go to court, and they sent you out to fetch him, eh? I know Vinnie, but I didn't know he hires little girls to play bounty hunter. That's kind of a dangerous job for a little thing like you. Why don't you run on home and have some cookies. Leave the man alone. Everyone here pays their rent, they don't need to be bothered by you or anyone else." He held the pool skimmer up and leaned on it. Paul Banter was going to be hard to pull down the hall without help.

"I'll give you Twenty Bucks if you help me."

He smiled. "I'll get the cart"

I guess when all else fails, it is good to know most people can still be bought.

Hester met me at Banter's apartment door. He handed me the cart. Of course we couldn't move him.

"He is a big fellow, ain't he?"

I tried picking him up, pulling him and rolling him, to get him on the cart. Sweat ran down my face and my hair was sticking to it. Hester was no help whatsoever. If he started to come around, I would have to zap him again. I stood there panting, leaning up against the railing. Hester was looking uncomfortable.

"He is going to wake up. I am not going to be here when he does. Mr. Banter is not a pleasant person. Just drop the handcart off at the office when you're finished."

Hester Craig walked away quickly. He looked back once, making sure Paul Banter was still out cold. It was time to get the nerve up. Call Rangers merry men. Grovel for an assist. Ranger was still out of town, anyway. The chances of me seeing him were close to nil. I liked nil. Nil was good. Maybe they would not even tell him that they helped me. I only weigh around one-twenty. OK, maybe one twenty-five. How am I supposed to get The Hulk on a handcart? I am not an ant! Ranger's men were not really merry. It was a joke; and I don't believe they knew about it. I think if they got wind I called them that, it would be harder for them to hear the phone when I called. They might be busy a lot more.

Ranger owned a successful security company. The men he hired were huge muscle bound scary looking people that resembled models for Gold's Gym. They were efficient at what they did, which sometimes meant protecting Ranger. (He had bad people mad at him a lot). They hardly spoke, and they rarely smiled. I never saw them out of uniform. Rangers employees wore black. It probably made color coordination very simple. They liked me, and that was good. I think they liked laughing at me. Is what I think.

Ranger's team got there in ten, and not only did they get Paul Banter out of the apartment, they got him in my car in less than five minutes, and they were NICE about it too.

Tank, one of the Merries, nodded as I thanked them. "Are you sure you want to take him in that car?" He said, glancing at the bumper and the balding tires.

Sheesh..Yes... !

This morning was turning out to be ok. I was feeling good about being able to buy groceries. I motored over to the police station, pulled into the drop off, and my door wouldn't open. It was stuck again. It was not a fluke. I now knew why this car was so cheap. I think sometime today, I am going to have to have a chat with Darrell or who ever owned the Used Car Emporium. I was stuck in my car In front of the police station, and my capture was waking up. Great. I couldn't really stun him with cops watching, either.

Eddie Gazarra, who is married to my cousin Shirley the whiner, came out to pick up the transport, and saw that I was stuck. Instead of helping, he went back inside the building and dragged 3 more of Trenton's finest out to watch. Until this very moment, Eddie had still been on my Christmas list, and one of my very best friends. He had a videophone, and I think he was actually filming me! I already had the back window 3/4 down; all I had to do was get back there, and climb out before someone called the Fire Department. I didn't want anyone using the Jaws of Life to rescue me from the car from hell. This was not going to ruin my day. I repeated over and over in my head. I put my finger to my eye. It was beginning to twitch. This was not going to ruin my day! I was determined.

I did my best brave idiot smile and climbed into the back seat. Paul Banter was now fully awake, he had started cussing and freaking out. He turned his head and he bit me as I was just getting my rear front to back. He bit me! That son of a bitch! I turned, screamed something irrational, and kicked him as hard as I could, and missed. Instead kicking the dash, and deploying the airbag. (Good to know the airbag actually worked. Not as intended, but still.) I'm thinking that this life that I had been living seemed more inappropriate all the time. This was one of the worst attempts at drop off ever. Most times I didn't have an audience.

I crawled out of the car, and into the arms of Joe Morelli. Ok. So maybe there were some perks to this after all. There was clapping and money changing hands; some laughing. Joe put me down, but not before he smiled and peeked under my shirt. I smiled at him. It was always great to be in Joe's arms. I walked back over to the passenger door of the car. The door opened. Some things there are no words for. They were just going to have to tow this car away. I put my hands on my hips and breathed deep for a few moments. I would not get back into this car, if it was the last fricken' car in the world. I kicked the side panel as hard as I could and dented in the door. Thank goodness for my shoes or I would have broken my foot.

I went inside the building, and retrieved my body receipt from Eddie. I knew he was secretly laughing. He tried to hold it in, but I saw. Joe was waiting for me when I got back to the car. He was leaning against it, in a relaxed pose. Joe looked good. He had on a brown t-shirt tucked into a faded pair of 501 jeans. I was jealous of the shirt, being all tucked in there like that. He was not only one of Trenton's finest, but I think there was no denying, he was one of New Jersey's State treasures. This man was unmistakably hot. Being next to him, made me feel like I was going to simultaneously combust. His legs where crossed, his arms were too. His head was tilted a little to the side, and he was looking at me curiously.

"You're working for Vinnie again?"

It wasn't a question really, more an astonished revelation. This guy never quits. He wants me, he loves me, but he hates my job. He was doing the macho Italian thing, and it wasn't going to go away as much as I wanted it to. He assumed I would just find a less scary way to make a living. Working for Vinnie as a bounty hunter is what keeps us both from climbing the commitment and marriage ladder. He does not want the woman he marries, and has children with to be in dangerous situations. Since I am not sure I want to be married to someone who gives me ultimatums, we continue to date, and argue. Vincent Plum's Bail Bonds had burned down, And when It did, he had high hopes that part of my life was coming to an end.

"I thought that you were working downtown, what happened?"

I hadn't been working downtown, I had been a temp. For one of Dickey's lawyer buddies. Once Dickey found out, he had the guy fire me. Dickey was my sad example of married un-bliss. I had been married to him for almost a year when I found him straddling Joyce Barnhardt on my dining room table, playing hide the salami.

"I was let go. Dickie found out I was working in the same building."

"Shit, Stephanie, isn't one of us in harm's way all the time, enough?"

I looked at him; Fire must have raced across my pupils. It wasn't like money was going to just fall out of the sky. I still needed a job, and this one was available. I knew how to do this job. (Basically. ) For the most part, it was fairly safe. I mean, I could get run over by a train on the way to a receptionist job. What's the difference? I could feel an alarm of self-defense going off somewhere in my brain. I hadn't had breakfast, I was already in three situations, and it was only ten in the morning. I mean, what the hell! I couldn't catch a break, even if it was stapled to my ass!

He saw the red come into my cheeks, and he made the correct assumption that I was going to yell. He Grabbed my hand, and he dragged me to the side of the building. I started talking before he had the chance.

"Joe, you and I are not going to work out if you keep hounding me about how I need a safe job. I have bills. This was available."

I really wanted to make my own money, pay my own bills, and do something that I was good at. What I really needed was a man to stand behind me, next to, in front of, or whatever. Just as long as they supported my decision as to what I wanted to do with my life. I mean, I never told him what to do. Well, sometimes. but that's personal!

Joe looked at me incredulously."Hounding you?" He just shook his head, and tried to control himself. "If it is ok with you Stephanie, can we talk about this later? I need to get back to work; there are dead people who need to talk to me."

He hugged me. "Listen, I gotta go. How 'bout Pino's Subs later? I'll bring them over about six." He gave me a smile, knowing food was always tempting to me. It always put me in a better mood, especially Pino's .

"OK?" He looked at me, hoping for a response he could live with.

"Yeah, that sounds great, actually." And it did. I loved Joe, and I really loved Pino's. Plus, I may not get to eat until then. Unless I want to eat the samples at Costco.

I got to the bonds office in about 20 minutes. I walked partway. I left that damn devil car at the police drop off. Let them deal with it. I was done with it. It was a nice day. Walking is good for you. Every fiber of my being screamed for me to go back and get the stupid car. I hated walking after about 5 minutes. I was getting good at getting out the back window anyway. Maybe I would just shoot the glass out of the side window, and I could get out of the car like Bo and Luke Duke. It could be the new cool thing to do. Maybe I could even paint the car orange and yell "Yee-haw" when I did it. Well, ok. No.

The car door did not open when I got to the bonds office. No surprise there, I just did my thing. Most people walking by didn't even look twice. I guess a lot of people must have this problem. Maybe nothing I did surprises anyone anymore. That might have been a frightening thought, but I pushed it away and walked into the office.

A rush of cool air blew by me as it escaped out the door. It felt really nice inside the office. Maybe I will just hang out here for a while. Connie was not at her desk, so I would have to wait anyway. What a bummer. I sat on the faux leather vinyl brown couch. I had my body receipt; I was ready to go get some food with this money. Lula was at work already. Maybe saying "at work" was a little much But she was in the office. I had to give her credit, and her outfit was not even half the "loud" as it usually was. She was usually dressed a little on the "bright and sassy" side. Lula is the one person that could get herself in more sticky situations than I could.

I met Lula a few years back. She had been working the streets, and she had the nerve to give me a information on a murder investigation. For some reason, I had decided to ask the wrong person some questions regarding Joe Morelli and his involvement with a murder. Joe was my FTA. Failure to Appear. He was on the lamb, and I was on the hunt to find him. I asked a psycho boxer for some information, and he took it as if I wanted a date. Benito Ramirez was a destroyer of souls, a crazy psychotic who got off on hurting people. He felt like I disrespected him for not only accepting a soda from him, but also not going on a "date". He started stalking me. He thought the best way to show his love for me was to ruin Lula's life by cutting her up and leaving her on my balcony, dying. I was lucky enough to get her to the hospital before she died. It has made a special bond between us. Sometimes I feel responsible for Lula, and I think she feels the same way about me. We have been working together ever since. I think we wanted to be like Sherlock and Dr. Watson, but I think we are more "Lucy and Ethel."

"What gives?" I said to her. "Where's Connie?"

"Oh." Lula said. Looking at Vinnie's closed door.

"She is in the office with Vinnie. Apparently there is some sort of problem, but I am pretending that I don't give a rats behind about what happens with Vinnie. Just to stay out of personal business and all. Plus, I am having my own dilemmas. You don't see me freaking out. I mean, Look at me." She pointed to herself and her outfit "I am not even wearing my bling."

"I noticed." I said.

"I had to tone it down today on account of Tank is introducing me to his Mama later. I don't want to out do her in any way. You gotta do that with moms. You just can't go in there showing them all the beauty at once. I need to look like a lawyer type, so she'll like me."

"Lula." I said. "You need to just be yourself. You do look nice, though."

"Damn straight, I look nice. I look better than nice. I look Hella nice. I spent four hundred dollars on this get up. He better recognize!"

I was busy checking out Lula's new shoes, when Connie walked out of Vinnie's office. She did not look happy. She looked at me, and motioned to Lula. "I am glad you're here." She said. "We need to talk, let's go for a walk."

"A walk?" I just tried that. It was not what I wanted to do.

Being upset was out of character for Connie. She never looked flustered. She was solid as a pit boss, and just as mean when she wanted to be. This was turning into a doodle of a morning. Connie power walked out of the office. Both Lula and I ran to catch up to her. I had a feeling that what she had to say did not involve winning the Lotto and vacationing in Baja. I kept my hopes up, anyway. When we got about four doors down, she started telling us what was up.

"Vinnie is getting a divorce." She said, as she strutted what God gave her down the street. Which was kind of an amazing site, especially from the back. She was the hourglass figure that so many women sought to perfect.

"After what happened with the office being burned down, and Vinnie getting caught not only with his pants down, but embezzling money from the business, Lucille finally had enough. She had some thugs come over, give Vinnie an ultimatum of leaving town or having his balls show up at his mother's house in a small envelope."

I am positive that last remark would have made Vinnie white as a sheet. That man did value his package. He grabbed them whenever he was making a point. Not having them would definitely throw off his game. Connie continued to walk down the street very fast; It was hard to stay with her. Lula was huffing behind us, not wanting to miss the show, but slowly losing ground.

"Wait!" She panted. "Would you slow your ass down? You are going to give me a heart attack."She was leaning over taking some deep breaths. "I was going to take a power walking class at my local gym." Lula said as she strained to keep up to us. (I say us, but I was losing ground as fast as Lula was.) " there are some hot men power walking. After this, I don't think that I want that kinda pressure." Lula parked her butt on the curb, trying to get her breath. I did the same.

"I don't know what kinda steroids you're on, Connie." Lula Said. "But I want in"

"This is how I get my thoughts out, Connie Said. "Walking Fast. It makes me more efficient."

Lula looked at her and said, "Girl, efficient this!" She held up her middle finger.

"What ever it is you need to say," Lula panted. "I think we need to say it sitting down, maybe with a snack. At least a beverage. I've got to keep up my appearance today. Today is important!"

I was thinking a beverage sounded really good. Maybe even a doughnut. I was not nearly as out of breath as Lula, but I could see where she was coming from. Connie was in a zone. I needed to get into that zone thing once in a while. It might help my thought processes. Running at super charge, that would be perfect. Lula was finally getting the color to come back into her face. The likelihood that she needed a snack was not good. Power walking might not be the best thing for her either. Connie continued talking as we walked a little slower. She promised Lula the pastry shop was going to be open when we got there.

"Lucille says that Vinnie is a no good scum of a husband, she doesn't want him living there or anywhere near her anymore. He is afraid she will make good on her threat of letting someone cut off his balls and has decided that he is going to sell the business. He wants to move to Scottsdale, like he always threatened. Maybe run a used car joint down there, or get the bonds office off the ground. He wants us to go with him." Connie said with a little panic in her voice.

All time stood still as we all sat there and thought about what she just said. No one said anything. I think stunned was a good explanation for what we all felt.

"Pardon?" I said, trying to wrap my mind around what she just said. "That last part again?"

Connie started flailing her arms around. She started pacing back and forth in front of us. "He says that Les Seabring will pick up the slack, and buy the business. Seabring owes Vinnie a favor from way back." She looked at us with desperation. "He has already been looking. A Realtor is lining up places that may work for him. He is serious this time." Connie was the rock that held everything in place for Vinnie and the business. She never panicked. Her voice never cracked or waivored, and here she was having a nervous breakdown right in front of us. Connie did not want to have to change in her life, she liked running the show at Vinnie's. It kept her on the good side of Mafialand. she liked to have the resources if she needed them, but at the same time, keep up her good Catholic values and morals along the way. The bonds office had been a good fit. She liked everything the way it was. Vinnie leaving would mean she would be back out looking for a job. No one liked to look for work. Not Lula, not I, and not Connie.

Arizona didn't bring warm and fuzzy feelings to my mind. Arizona was where we had gone on the fateful trip where I was deeply humiliated by scalping stories. I was not going to follow Vinnie to that place. The silence stretched. All of us felt a little comfortable with the situation that was our lives. Yes, it could be scary, but I had learned to make it a routine that I could live with. Now what? Go back to hunting for a job? Or moving into my parent's house until I could find one? Moving in permanently with Morelli? Or working full time for Ranger? None of those things were good options. I should never have gotten up this morning. Connie's phone started to ring, and she walked off taking loud, still freaking out about what just dropped on her plate.

Lula and I were still parked on the sidewalk. "I do not want to live in Scottsdale." Lula said." Where the hell is that anyway? The desert? Do I look like I can handle the desert to you? I could go work for Les Sebring, or find a receptionist job, right? This could work out. I need a doughnut. Where did she go?" Lula looked around for Connie. She was coming back up the street toward us. "She promised us a snack."

I took a deep breath, and tried not to hyperventilate.

"I was talking to my cousin." Connie said as she waltzed back up to us. She looked more in control now. I was hoping for some good news. "He said he would be willing to pick up the bonds business from Vinnie." She said smiling. "We could all keep our jobs. But then I got to thinking, why do we need him? I have some money saved. I say we go in to business together, and buy the bonds office from Vinnie ourselves. We don't need any help. We know the business; I think we should do it."

It was something to think about. I had no intention of trying to beg for my job back at the button factory, the tampon factory, or the coffee shop.

Five months ago, Vincent Plum Bail Bonds burned to the ground. The story is that Vinnie had gone into business with the wrong group of guys, gambled away some of their money, and put not only himself in a life threatening situation, but put me and my friend Moon Man in danger also. Not to say it wasn't exciting. Vinnie had also made some wrong choices when it came to what company he had kept. When It got back to his father in law, things got worse. Not only would the dept not be paid off by Lucille's father, Harry the Hammer, but Lucille was done with him also. Vinnie was on the outs with his wife and father in law. Which was not good, since his father in-law was Mafia with a capital M, and you don't mess with those boys. The people Vinnie owed money to burned the bonds office down, and because there was no office, we all had to find work elsewhere until it was rebuilt. I did some skip work on the side that I still had the papers on, and Lula and Connie helped out as much as they could recovering files, and working with RangeMan to extract data off the burnt out computers. I was out of work until things were up and running again, hence the work at the button factory. Plus, another attempt at Cluck in the Bucket, the tampon factory, and a little stint at the fresh yogurt and bagel shop..

They all turned out to be a bad fit in one way or another. I came home smelling like chicken grease, clogged the cotton machine up when I spilled my soda, and got in a fight with a large chicken. I flooded the Bagel and Yogurt shop, got in a slapping contest with a bunch of unruly men on Sabbath, and of course, the personal products factory disaster.

I was half considering taking a job again at the pastry shop, but was afraid that Joe would love that too much, since that was where he took my virginity that lead me run him over with my father's car. Breaking his leg. Would a business venture for Connie, Lula and me be what it took to get me out of hot water with Joe? Or would it make things worse? What If we turned out to be really bad at running a business? Then it would be one more thing that I stunk at? Or, what if we turned out to be successful, and being so, Joe and I grew farther apart? Not only that, what would my grandmother think? She would think she would have a job, is what she would think. That in itself is a reason to not do it.

We got back to the office just after lunch, finding our way not to the pastry shop, but instead to Lula's favorite. Cluck in the Bucket. Me, I didn't think I could ever eat at Cluck in the Bucket again. I got an ice tea, and decided that I could wait on lunch. Connie gave me my check for the capture. I had a lot to think about. This is where my life just never stops being confusing. Did I want to start fresh, and take a chance on Scottsdale? Relocating would change everything. No one would be putting my escapades on video. I would have to leave my family. Sure, but I could visit. I know my love life would be a lot more uncomplicated if I just took off for a while.

I was sitting on the edge of Connie's desk burning a hole in the couch with my thoughts, when I felt a change in air temperature in the room. There was only one person that could do that. Ranger. It had been almost five months since I had seen him. He took a government assignment just after the bonds building went up in flames. One of last things he had said to me before he flew off into the sunset (basically) was that "I owed him." For what? Well, he and I love to roll around and get frisky.

Ranger came up behind me, and put his hand on my waist as he picked up a file Connie was saving for him. My heart started to beat faster. I turned to see him. He was a little thinner and his eyes were piercing brown, and he stared at me for a full five seconds. He looked hungry, his features were harsh. Then they turned soft and a little smile edged the corners of his mouth.

My hands were clammy, and I started to sweat. I didn't think I'd see him. Not today at least. I half expected Tank to call, and let me know he was back. Why?, I have no idea.

"I need to talk to you." He said. "Walk out with me."

Connie and Lula both looked down at what they were doing, and started fanning themselves. Those are my girls. Strong as ever in the face of lust.

Ranger scared the hell out of me. Not in a "afraid for my life" way, but more of an afraid for my soul way. With him around, it was difficult to be in a monogamous relationship. He was way too tempting. Like a dessert you weren't suppose to eat. It was painfully difficult to keep my paws off of him. The fact that he was not into relationships, made it that much more important to control myself. He was walking sex. Pure and simple. I was not about to just play around on the side with Ranger when the moment was right. One night stands were frowned upon. Plus, we already did that.

I don't know how Vinnie and Ranger started working together. But It works out well. Vinnie has some dangerous people he writes paper on. Ranger is the one who deals with them; he only takes the high bond cases, I guess smaller ones aren't worth risking his life. The only person that found more high bonds than he did was Jeanne Ellen. I'm not sure what the relationship was with those two, but I bet it is sexual. She was very Cat Woman. And Cat Woman and Batman were always after each other.

When I got outside, Ranger was leaning like a relaxed cat on his very new, very black Mercedes. He had his arms folded across his chest. After five months of no Ranger, It was hard for me to not touch him. I know it was wrong to feel so compelled to attack him, but I don't have a lot of willpower. I put my hands in my pockets of my jeans.

"Word on the street is that Vincent Plum Bail Bonds may be no more. That he is thinking about moving the operation to Scottsdale." He paused. "And that he has asked the staff to move with him. Is there any credibility to this?"

Boy, word does get around quick.

"Connie told us about an hour ago." I said. "I guess Vinnie may be getting a divorce. It might not be the safest place for him to be, So close to Lucille and her father. Someone went as far as to threaten to cut off his balls if he doesn't relocate. He's considering leaving."

He knew all this, but he stayed silent. Waiting.

"And..?"

"And, What?"

"And. What are your plans going to be, Babe? Are you taking him up on the offer, and moving to Scottsdale?"

I honestly didn't know. So I shrugged. "I dunno, there hasn't been an offer yet. This has all just come up. I have no idea what I'm going to do."

Ranger looked at me for a few moments, then walked up to me, holding my eyes with his.

"If you need work, you know that you can work for me."

He moved in and pushed me towards the shadows of the side of the building. Up against the brick side wall of Vinnie's. He leaned into me, moving his leg between mine. He cupped my face with his hands and kissed me lightly. His fingers slid down my neck and down my side until they rested on my waist. His kiss deepened as my fingers took hold of his shirt pulling him in closer to me, and angling my body to match his. He was pushing his boundaries by holding me against the wall. although I wasn't going anywhere. My hips responded and pushed up against him, and my fingers dug into his shirt. He felt good. I was thinking who needs morals?

He stopped for a moment, his lips so close they brushed mine. A little smile tugged at his mouth. "I missed you."

I almost started hyperventilating for the 2nd time today.

Ranger took his hand and gently swept a stray curl back behind my ear. He kissed me very softly, and pulled away. "I know you are seeing Morelli again." He said, as he walked back to his car and got in. "You still owe me."

Agh... That man! By the time I got my blood pressure calmed down, he was long gone, and I was left in the alley, panting.

Not long ago, Ranger and I were in a precarious situation. I was not seeing Morelli, and we were alone in his bedroom. I came really close to giving into him, but my mind was on other things. Like the flashing lights on his computer screen indicating Vincent Plum's Bail Bonds office was on fire. I couldn't concentrate. Apparently, It ruined the mood. He told me that I owed him for that night. He left on this assignment after that. I just assumed or hoped that he had forgotten. I guess not.


	2. Chapter 2

I went back into the bonds office; Vinnie's door was open. His voice was loud and had an ominous tone. "Stephanie, come in here. I need to talk to you."

I had no idea what I was going to say to him if he asked me about Scottsdale. I don't think I wanted to go. I loved Joe, and my life was here. I couldn't just pick up and go. His office was freshly painted. It had gotten the worst damage, and had to be completely rebuilt. The office built larger than the original and now had a couch and a large desk with two leather chairs. One for him, and the one I sat my butt in. It was really a no brainer; I wasn't following Vinnie or the business. I loved Trenton. Why would I want to leave?

Vinnie looked tired and worn down. I felt bad for him. He was my cousin, and he was family. Family stuck together. Even if they fell in love with ducks. Vinnie was wearing a rumpled shirt, and had days old stubble. He had black circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a month. Not only that, he smelled like he hadn't taken a shower in just as long.

"You look like shit, are you OK?" I inwardly grimaced at my own comment. I was going for subtle, but that isn't what flew out of my mouth.

"I suppose Connie told you what was going on."

I nodded. "So you are really going this time? Is this serious enough to run?" Lucille was never one of my all time favorite people, but living with Vinnie couldn't have been easy. I wasn't surprised when Connie told me Lucille was finished with Vinnie. I also wasn't surprised she wanted him gone. I had felt the same way when I divorced Dickie Orr. I just didn't have the backing to force it to happen.

"Yeah. Well, Lucille is a bitch." He said. "Wouldn't even accept my apology. So fuck her. Then, she has the nerve to threaten my boys." Vinnie pointed to his nuts. "She really nailed me good. The thing is, if she had taken this kind of interest in me before, we wouldn't be in this predicament. She gets all sexy when she acts like this."

Ewe. I did not want that mental picture.

"So here's the thing. You think about it. Maybe we could work something out where we would be partners or something out there. It could work." He tried to smile, but it was a desperate attempt. No one wanted to up and move because they were forced into it. I saw a little fright in his eyes. Like he knew that the threat was real.

"Vinnie, I don't know about Scottsdale. I have a life here."

"Yeah well, If you could bring in some more fricken' skips once in a while, maybe the office would be doing a lot better. Just think about it, Ok?"

I walked out of the office thinking he was on his own. Not that it wouldn't be interesting to try and move to another state. For now, I needed to get my mind off of other people, and back to me. I had the check from Paul Banter's capture. Although It was not huge, I could grab a cheap lunch and groceries. At the same time, I could look up the other five FTA's that I had. I needed a partner in crime. I was a little short on nerve. Plus, every good action hero needs a partner.

Batman and Robin.

Louis and Clark.

Laverne and Shirley.

Thelma and Louise.

Cagney and Lacy.

Lucy and Ethel.

Fonzi and Ritchie.

Lennie and Squiggy.

Burt & Ernie.

Ok So, I was getting out there on this one. I looked over at Lula. She didn't need an invite to decide she was finished filing for the day.

"If you're going out to pick up some of those bad guys, I need to go. We need to start collaborating on this new venture. I need practice." Lula grabbed her purse. "As long as we can pick up something to eat first, I'm starving!"

Connie looked over at Lula. Lula could eat. Sometimes there was no stopping that machine.

"Don't even think we can take that car of yours, neither. No way am I getting my plus size frame through one of those dinky windows. I saw that show you put on. Crawlin' out of the window. No way. We are takin' my car."

That sounded like a fine idea to me. Unless we ran into a dead guy,a naked guy, a stinky guy, or the police, Lula was there for me.

We sat in Lula's red Firebird in the drive-thru line at Freda's Fried Chicken and Waffles. I asked her what she thought about going into business together. "Damn straight we should take over Vinnie's office. Connie runs it anyways. What does Vinnie do all day anyway, besides look at naked duck porn and talk dirty to Rhonda the phone sex lady?"

She had a point. We had met Rhonda; she had missed her court date. Vinnie bonded her out again, as long as he could get free phone sex for two months. It didn't matter that she weighed close to 350 Lbs. in person. She sounded like a 15-year-old schoolgirl on the phone.

Lula took the folder and put it on the dashboard. "Which one of these fine examples of bonds office mistakes do we wanna go after first?" Lula Said. "I am in a mood to kick some butt. "

Lula was right, It was time to get some work done, And we did. By five O'clock, we had captured three no shows. Ricky Salinger, Carl Worthington, and Lashonda Johnson. We felt like bond enforcement bad-asses. Hells yeah. We didn't even get videotaped. Four skips in one day saved me. I almost had enough to pay my rent, buy groceries, and make a minimum payment on my Visa card. It was turning out to be a great day. I even had enough time to get back to the office, get my POS Honda, and motor on home to my apartment. Take a shower, And get ready for dinner with Morelli. I was happy. Everything had gone right. The day had been saved. I jumped in my Bo and Luke Duke Honda, and I motored towards home.

And then it happened.

"Bang!"

The car in front of me veered off the road, and flipped over. I turned to see what had happened and another loud shot exploded my back window. I screamed, and ducked. Who the hell was shooting at me? What the hell! I couldn't think of anyone I had pissed off bad enough in at last 6 months. Who would want to kill me? My mind raced. Who got out of the clinker, anyone threatening? I couldn't think of anyone, lately. In the past there had been many, but I thought my life was pretty safe from that kind of threat at the moment. One thing for sure, I wasn't going to stick around and have someone get a better shot. I took off as fast as I could, but the car felt funny. It was hard to steer. It's a strange sensation to suddenly realize that you only have 3 wheels. My heart was pounding, I was shaking. I got the car to stop, and climbed out the back window as fast as I could.

I moved slowly, trying to stay out of sight. I used my car as cover, looking for a shooter. I was in the middle of town, about five blocks from the office. I saw buildings and rooftops. Plenty of places for someone to take a clear shot. The car that flipped over was behind me. There were two people trying to climb out. No one else tried to shoot at me for the last twenty seconds. I grabbed my cellphone out of my pocket, and called 911. I ran over to help the lady and man who were stuck in the overturned car.

"Do you know who was shooting at you?" I said, whispering as I ducked behind a parked car. "Are you Ok?"

They both looked at me like I was nuts. "Shooting at us? No one was shooting at us!" The man said in a loud voice. "You're mistaken. I lost control of the car is all. I sure hope you weren't hurt." He helped the woman to her feet, and they dusted themselves off. He was holding his arm, blood was starting to show through the fabric.

I was stunned. Of course someone was shooting. The man had a bullet in his arm, for Christ's sake. In the backseat there was another man. He was on the large side. He had rolled onto his stomach. He didn't look like he was going to get to eat anymore Twinkies. His life was over. I hoped he had enjoyed the ride.

I knew then, this might be the part of my scary job that Joe didn't like. I was beginning to believe it may not be the job. It might be me. Things just seemed to happen when I was around.

I sat on the curb in front of Lane's Smog and Wash, watching the first-responders. Ambulances, fire trucks, police cars,coroner,Morelli. Ranger angled his car in, and stopped near me. Both of them made me feel safe, but also made me feel so small. All these people had my back. I needed protecting. From either from myself or from others. They waited for calls about things that I was involved in. Where they always going to have to rush to my rescue? I knew it wasn't fair to assume they would. When does Wonder Woman ever need assistance? She didn't even need a sidekick. I didn't feel like Wonder Woman anymore. Maybe Trenton needed to slow down, or maybe I needed to speed up.

Morelli walked over to me. He looked concerned. "You ok?" He sat down next to me. "The older gentleman, and the woman are going to be ok; he has a gunshot in his right arm. He says he doesn't remember it happening. The woman, she acts confused. Of course they also claim to have never seen the dead guy in the back seat. I think they are going to be spending sometime at my office." He paused, And looked me over once more. "You sure you're Ok?"

I nodded, but I wanted to cry. I wanted Joe to realize I could take care of myself, and I kept proving myself wrong. He was a good cop. He didn't deserve a girlfriend who couldn't stay out of trouble for more than two months at a time. I was beginning to feel like I was part of someone's bad joke. I put my head down into my lap. My car was totaled sort of. Well. Might as well be. Joe hugged me, kissing me on my forehead. He said he was happy I was ok, and that he would see me tonight. Sad thing is, he was so use to me getting into these messes, that he didn't even think I needed a ride home. I watched him walk away.

I watched as Joe and Ranger did a nonverbal trade off of the "Stephanie watch". As Morelli walked away, Ranger came over to me. He looked at me for a moment, Standing over me. "I think it is safe to say that your Honda is toast. What happened?"

I honestly did not know what happened. I shrugged, and stood up. "Scottsdale Is looking better all the time." This time, for the first time, I walked away. I had enough. I had done everything right, and the day just kept kicking me in the ass. I started walking home, wondering why I couldn't even drive to my apartment without something bad happening. I was frustrated. I needed to think. A half hour later, I was halfway home. A car pulled up, angled in front of me, and stopped. The dark tinted window slid down.

"Get In"

I was hot, I was tired. I needed someone to talk to, so I did. It was Ranger.

"You walked away from me, don't do that. It's not polite, and put your seat belt on."

I just looked at him. It had been a hell of a day. I did not want this right now. What I wanted was for him to understand. I needed him to understand. He could fix it. Give me courage, make me feel better about everything.

I realized then that he wasn't Batman. This was just a man. Someone who didn't understand me anymore than I understood myself. Someone who thought I needed a seat belt. He must have seen something in my eyes. He turned back to the road, focused. And just drove.

He drove onto an overpass and stopped. We were close to the outskirts of Trenton. I could see the neighborhood I grew up in, I could see the good and the bad, the lights and the traffic. The world very clear. It was already dusk. I could see most of Jersey from this very spot.

Ranger leaned on his car and looked out over the city. "Sometimes I come out here when I need to think. I can get a clear prospective if I look at the whole picture. If you look at something differently, it makes a lot more sense. That is your city, Stephanie." He pointed out over Trenton. "You shouldn't be afraid of it. You have a gift. The ability to get under people's skin. They remember you, like it or not." He turned to me, looking into my eyes. "That is why you have trouble. No one forgets you. Not only that, but when you are doing your job and after someone, God help them. You are a Bloodhound. He looked sideways at me. Stephanie Plum you are a dangerous woman." He shook his head and smiled as he looked over the city. "What amazes me most is you don't see yourself as anything but a fuck up. That is where people have the advantage. You don't understand just how incredible you are. Just because there are people in your life that don't understand you, doesn't mean what you do is screwed up or wrong. Just different."

We stood in silence for a long time. "You think I am dangerous?" I was flirting with the devil. I knew it. "I think you are trying to get in my pants, Carlos Manoso." I said. "Stop teasing me."

Ranger barked out a Laugh. "Shit, Stephanie. If I wanted in your pants, it would have happened already. You are an open book. I know all your tells."

I smiled up at him. "Yeah, I guess you do." I kicked the rocks at my feet in an attempt to change the subject. He had given me a tremendous compliment, and I had nowhere to go with it. It felt weird saying "thank you".

"So what happened, how come you were gone so long?" I didn't know what I expected him to say, really. I had missed him. He was gone for months.

"I was in El Salvador. Not exactly a story I want to repeat. I couldn't even if I wanted to. It's confidential." Ranger moved away from his car, and opened the passenger side for me. "I want to know about what happened today, but I have an appointment that I need to keep. Tomorrow morning stop by Rangeman. I also have some things to discuss with you. I really would like to know the story with the car and the sniper."

Sniper? I was really hoping he was wrong. If there was a sniper, the chances were 50/50 that he was shooting at me. Ranger dropped me off at my apartment, just as Joe showed up with sandwiches and beer. His eyes darkened when he saw Joe. He squeezed my hand and said, "tomorrow."

Joe was waiting for me by his new truck. It was a dark gray Ford F-150. He had bought it about a year ago, and he looked so good standing next to it, that I wanted to bite him. But when I looked into his eyes, they were soft, like Mocha and a little sad. He took my hand and we went upstairs to my apartment. It was cool and dark when we went in. I put my bag down on the counter and fed Rex what was left of an apple. Joe was looking at me intently. I wondered what was on his mind. He didn't bring Bob; I knew he wasn't staying the night. I had butterflies in my stomach and I didn't even know why.

We unwrapped our sandwiches, and popped open a couple beers, Just like a couple who had been together for years. We stood eating in the kitchen. I was silent. Waiting. I wanted him to say what he needed to say. I didn't take long.

"Stephanie, you need to tell me what happened today, and you still need to go and give your statement to the investigators." He said, as he finished a bite of his sandwich.

I told him all I knew, which was not a lot. I told him I was driving, The car in front of me flipped after I heard a gunshot. My back window blew out. I had no idea why someone would shoot at me, or the couple in front of me. And I had no idea who it was or where It came from.

Joe let out a long sigh and he looked down. "I really don't think I can do this anymore, Stephanie."

I was confused. It sounded like this was rehearsed.

"You are always going to be in danger. You are always going to need to be rescued. Even if you're not at the bonds office. You still get shot at, kidnapped, and weird things happen to you."

I was stupefied to say the least. I couldn't believe it. He was going to break up with me. This was a breakup speech. I know my life was a little complicated but he was giving up on us.

"I am 35 years old, Stephanie. I really need some normal in my life. I don't think you can do normal. I have been thinking about this a lot, I don't want to tell you how to feel, or tell you what you can and can't do with your life. It isn't fair. I want things that I don't think you can give me anymore."

I took a deep breath. I was pinching myself, trying to make this go away. This had to be a nightmare. This was not happening to me.

"Day in and day out, I see horrific things." He said. "When I get home, I want to shut it off. I want to have a family that shields me from the horrors of what I go through every day. I want a stable relationship that I am not worried about. I want kids, and I want them to grow up safe and out of harm's way. I just don't think that is what you want, or need anymore. Stephanie, you are a walking disaster. I love you, damn it, but I can't be with you anymore. There is no future in this."

Crap. I can't believe this is happening. I felt sick. I wanted to throw up. I held my breath and counted down. I couldn't talk. I just sat there with a half eaten sandwich in my hand. He called me a walking disaster. I finally sat the sandwich on the counter, and tried to steady myself.

I need to start my life, Cupcake. I just feel like we are going in circles." He looked at me and I knew he wanted me to be ok with this. I was not ok with this. I was not ok with anything anymore. This day was like a monster. My whole life caved in, in less than 17 seconds, I had lost everything.

Joe stayed with me for a little while longer, then took the coward's way out and said he had to get back. Bob would want to go out, and he needed to think. I couldn't talk. I was in shock. There were no words that I could come up with. My life as I knew it was getting up and leaving. All I could do was wait for this nightmare to end.

Before he left, he said. "Stephanie, I will always love you, more than you know. But this is my life. I need to feel confident that I can come home to someone who can be there for me, or I can't do my job.

And then he was gone. Just like that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When I was eight, I met my best friend Mary Lou Molnar. She is now, Mary Lou Stankovic. She and I have grown up together. Her parents lived down the street from mine. We did everything together. She was always Wendy when I was Peter Pan. We have laughed, and we have cried together. We lusted over the same guys, from Joe Morelli all the way to "Blackie Lawless" from General Hospital. Whenever something terrible happens, she is the one I turn to. It was her I called when my marriage to Dickie Orr quickly went south; she was there during it all. Through thick and thin; it was always her shoulder that I leaned upon. So, it was no surprise to her that I called. I did not have to say anything, really. Just, I need you. She said, "Omigod! I will be right there."

I sat on the floor. I couldn't get up. I had to go to the bathroom, and I couldn't find the will, or the strength to do it. I would just have to figure something else out. I was waiting for this nightmare to go away and I would wake up. It would be a nice day, and everything would be normal. Someone knocked on my door. It was midnight. I was still sitting there. My stomach was cramping up. I was seriously considering the damage that would be made if I just went ahead and did the deed.

"Stephanie. Let me in. Its Mary Lou. I have cake."

Usually, that was enough to rattle my chain and make me get up, But I just couldn't. She finally took her spare key out and let herself in.

The door opened. "Hey Stephanie, are you ok?" She asked, then tripped over me. "Jesus, It's pitch dark in here! Was that you?" She switched on the hall light and found me on the floor. "Cripes, Stephanie do you need a doctor, What happened?"

All I had the energy to say was, "help, I need to pee!"

"Well, damn girl. Let's get you up, and into the bathroom. Don't you dare even think about peeing on me!"

Mary Lou helped me up and did not ask me anymore questions. 'Cause that's what girlfriends do. They give you space to breathe until you want to talk. She helped me stumble into the bathroom. I closed the door, and stared at myself in the mirror trying to tell myself everything was OK. It wasn't working. I felt sad, but at the same time, happy I was finally the bathroom. It would have been really embarrassing to have tinkled on the rug. I took a deep breath and turned out the light, and walked out into the living room. There was a birthday cake sitting on the table. It was pink and blue with little fluffy clouds and sugar-coated roses done in lavender and green. It said "Happy 50th, Myrtle !". I guess Myrtle didn't need the cake. I just stared at It. I didn't want birthday cake, anymore. I didn't think it would cheer me up, or give me courage.

Why couldn't I be a normal girl? One that Joe could depend on. I wanted to be that person so bad, my chest hurt. I was getting so worked up thinking about it , I was going to have an anxiety attack. I just wasn't ever going to be the person he talked about. I was always going to have something that kept things from being normal. Why? Because I was the girl who jumped off her parent's roof, and thought she could fly.

Mary Lou sat with me and I cried on her shoulder. I didn't tell her what happened. I guess she didn't really need to know. She knew in time I would tell her. She stayed with me all night. I must have finally fallen asleep on the couch next to her. Next thing I knew, It was morning, and she was still there.

Mary Lou got of the couch and strolled into the kitchen. "My mom is watching the kids for me." she started rummaging through my leftovers. "They know you need me, and I can stay for as long as you want me to. Besides, I could use a break from soccer practice and dance lessons. I was getting 'roids from having to talk to all the other parents."

I tried to smile. I am lucky to have her. She is my best friend. I can only hope that her life doesn't throw her road blocks like mine did. She deserved happiness, but I would be there for her, just as she is for me.

At two in the afternoon, we had the cake halfway finished. We were still in our jammies, watching Jerry Springer. I was sipping tea and trying not to cry. The lock tumbled on my front door. Ranger walked in. I didn't know if Mary Lou ever really met Ranger. As in "hello". Introduced, the whole enchilada. At that moment, I didn't really care if the Grim Reaper came through my door. I wasn't really there. Mary Lou looked flustered, and Ranger looked confused.

She turned to me. "Do you mind if I take off for a while? I need to check on things at home." I nodded and gave her a big hug, and said thank you. She did an awkward hello and goodbye with Ranger, grabbed her purse and left.

Ranger looked down at me. I was still in my night-clothes. My hair must have been all over the place. My eyes were swollen, my face all blotchy. I had curled up into ball on the couch tying to dissolve into the fabric. He closed the front door and leaned against the frame. "Are you sick? Anything contagious?"

I just nodded "No". I didn't think a broken heart was contagious, but I wasn't sure. He looked like he needed a clue. I didn't give him one. Ranger walked over and sat next to me on the couch, and flicked the T.V. Off with the remote. He put his arm around me protectively.

I must have fallen asleep. I woke up with a start, not knowing where I was. I realized I was on my couch. It was close to eight at night, and I was alone. I knew what woke me up. Someone was coming through the door. Ranger. He walked in. He had Chinese food. He set the food on the table. He still didn't ask me what was wrong, and I didn't tell him. There was a lot of silence. For once, I really needed it. Some things are just too sad to say out loud.

"You should eat something, Stephanie" He finally said. Opening one of the containers of sticky rice and handing It to me.

I glared at him. He stared right back. I grabbed the container from him, picked up chopsticks and mashed stuff around a little. Putting it back down. He stopped eating his food. I could see he was trying hard to get what was happening. To give him credit, this was not his problem. I think it was obvious at that point that it had to do with Joe.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about? He finally said, dropping his food container on the coffee table. "You were suppose to meet me at the office this morning. When you didn't show, I called. Your phone is off. I thought something happened to you. I was being a good guy, and so I called Morelli. He told me maybe I should come over and check up on you. It was out of character for him. So here I sit. I am still in the dark. You need to open up and let me know what is going on. I don't mind the silence, but it would be nice if you could trust me.

"Joe broke up with me." I said, finally. I took a deep breath. Finalizing it. Throwing it out there, making it the reality I was having a hard time facing. "He told me I was a walking disaster, and that I would never be the girl he wanted me to be. That it was unfair to ask it of me. What he needed was someone normal, someone to help get rid of the demons in his head, not make more."

Ranger almost looked relieved. Apparently breaking up with Joe was nothing new. "Stephanie, I can't believe I am saying this, but I am sure you will mend your relationship. You always do."

"It's different this time." I felt new tears fall. Damn.

Ranger moved over so he was next to me on the couch and tucked me into his jacket. It was warm and cozy. It felt safe. I must have dozed off. It was morning when I woke up. I was on the couch with a quilt over me. The boxes of food picked up. Rex had some veggies in his bowl, and Ranger was gone.

I pulled myself up, dragged myself into the bathroom, and took a really long hot shower. I tied my hair back, and attempted to get the circles to go away from under my eyes. My life needed to go on. As reckless and crazy as it was, I needed to live it. I was struggling with sadness. I took a deep breath and walked out the door. Unfortunately, when I got to the parking lot, there was no car. My piece of crap Honda was not around anymore. It was probably on its way to the big scrap pile in the sky by now. I stood there. Taking it all in.

Mr. Capelli came by, walking fast. He was rail thin. Probably weighed twenty pounds less than I did, and he was two inches shorter. He had a slight hunch, which didn't seem to slow him down on bit. What little hair he had what as white as snow, cut short and neat. He had to be about 90. He wore black rimmed thick glasses that made his eyes seem three times their normal size. I had seen him occasionally, walking round the parking lot. He picked up trash and looked for loose change. He was spit and vinegar in the morning. I don't know how he did it. Mrs. Sanders in 2B told me he was always up at five AM doing laps up and down the hallways. She was going to complain. She said it wasn't normal for a man his age to be acting that way. I hope I had that much energy when I got old.

"Hey there, sweetie!" he said. "Ya need a ride somewhere? I don't see your car today."

"Actually,yeah. I do need a ride. I don't suppose you could give me a ride to work?" I said. Hoping that he actually owned a car.

"Why sure! I was going out anyways. I need a different place to take my walks." He said. "I think maybe the park. I keep getting notes on my door from the woman next door. She says its illegal to walk up and down the hallway until after seven. I think she is full of baloney, but what can ya do? " He got into a dusty green Dodge Neon that was sitting in the corner of lot. He unlocked the passenger side for me, and I got in. Well. There ya go. I thought. I had myself a ride.

"I need my exercise." He continued. If I slow down, I will never get back up to speed. I'm waiting for that new Senior Living building to be finished. Have you seen it? It's a beaut! It's over on Charleston Street. Can't miss it. It has all the palm trees out front."

From what I remembered of Charleston Street, it was a quiet tree lined street with a small cemetery that dated back to the 1800's. It had a mortuary that Grandma Mazur was banned from entering because of her casket hi jinx, and a flower shop. There were a few older houses set back from the street. Putting a Senior housing complex in that neighborhood seemed like the wrong choice, but it did make it convenient.

"I'm fifth in line to get a place in the new complex." He said as he drove. His seat was pushed up as far as humanly possible. His nose almost touched the steering wheel. He sat on a phone book so he could see over the dash. "I'm getting a nice bachelor pad. There are plenty of single chicks moving in. I saw the list. Lotsa women. Including your grandmother."

That got my attention. "My grandmother?"

He nodded. "She's pretty cute too. I told her about the building. She said she was already on the waiting list with another hot young thing. They were thinking about being roommates. Of course, I thought that was a whopper of an idea. Two available girls. Like college all over again."

"Hot young thing?" I said confused. My Grandmother was no spring chicken. She was in her early 80's, I was almost sure of it.

"Shoot," He said. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm eighty-six years old!. Most of the girlies that will be moving in are all younger than I am, and most of them are single!"

Oh Boy.

He went on to say that I might know the woman Grandma was speaking of " Bella something". Oh Crap. My heart almost stopped. I coughed, and choked on my own surprise.

He hit my back hard with his palm, causing me to cough again . "You gotta watch out. My late wife choked on a pickle, died right there in front of me. It was a doozy of a pickle too."

"Are you telling me that my Grandmother might move out of my parent's house to live with Grandma Bella?"

"Well, I don't know if she is a grandmother." He told me, happy as pie.

His car jerked to a stop and just about gave me whiplash with the seat belt. My head was two inches away from getting some dash. "Whelp..Here ya are!" He said as he parked the car half in, half on the curb in front of the bonds office. "Hope to see you again soon! Tell your Grandmother I am looking forward to living close to her. She's a real doll."

I said good-bye, and he drifted off, Missing three cars parked on the road with only inches to spare. It was like riding in a car with Mister Magoo. I had a feeling I would be talking to my mother about this.

Connie was at her desk, swamped by folders. There was a huge mess in front of her. She had decided to use the new computer to hold all the data from the office, but with that came the task of putting all the information in the computer. What was left of the files from the fire were in front of her. She had to do a lot of data entry. She did not look happy about it.

"How's it going?" I asked tentatively.

"Don't even go there." she said in a huff. "All this crap about Vinnie leaving, and I am still working on last month's problems. I need an office assistant. This is getting ridicules."

"I thought Lula was helping you." I picked up some of the half burnt up files, shuffling through them. They were more than a little burned up. I could only read one forth of the content.

"Yeah, right. All these files in this pile are toast." she said pointing to the ones I picked up. There is nothing I can do with them. Most of it was on the computer, but I have to go through and check them all one by one. It's a pain in the rear."

"Is he here?" I said looking towards the closed-door half hidden by a large cardboard cut out of Chewbacca.

"Vinnie?" She said laughing. "He never leaves. I think he's been sleeping on the couch in his office. One day he came out of that office in boxer shorts. It was scary."

"So, what is the deal with Scottsdale. Is he still thinking about moving?"

"He is doing more than thinking, Stephanie. Yesterday afternoon after everyone left, he went as far as having me draw up papers. He said he had to leave. He liked the idea of buying out the business from him."

"Maybe I should go the Scottsdale with Vinnie." I said. As I said it, I was thinking it could work.

Connie froze. She looked up at me. Before, she was lost in her work and just talking. Not really caring who was listening while she got on with her job. "What?"

"Scottsdale." I said. "Maybe I should go with Vinnie."

"I saw your car last night on my way home. It didn't look so good. you OK?"

"Maybe it would be a good thing for me. Not get blown up every time I turned around. It would be a change. Maybe I could keep a car out there. Maybe people would stop shooting at me, And, maybe I wouldn't get in the fricken newspaper every fifteen minutes." I picked up a pillow and thunked my head with it. "What am I thinking?"

Connie shuffled some more papers and looked slightly irritated. " Considering that I went through with this deal because I thought you were going to be here to help me, I think it would be a terrible idea. Who would I have to do skip tracing? Lula?"

"Maybe you could hire someone else."

"From what I remember last time we did that, it was a disaster."

Connie had put an ad in the paper for a bond enforcement agent when we needed some help and Ranger was out of the game for a while. The people who did show up were not exactly qualified. I heard her huff a few times.

"So what happened? I heard you had some car problems.

I told her the short version of the story.

"Morelli needs to get a grip. He is hot, but he needs to live in this century."

"He has a point, Connie. I mean, how many other people do you know that blow up cars weekly, and burn up building as much as i do?"

"That's the thing." She said. "You didn't. Other people did that. It wasn't your fault."

I rolled my eyes. At some point, I think I needed to realize it could not be all coincidence.

I saw Vinnie's light go on in his office. I got up and went to talk to my cousin.

Vinnie wasn't into wasting time. If I was going with him, I had to be ready to leave in less than a month. He was taking the cowardly route. Running. From the looks of his two black eyes, I had an idea that it wasn't really his choice. It was more of a leave or die kind of situation. Connie signed paperwork stating that she would own half the business. He would be a silent partner, meaning he couldn't complain if things went south. She was a good business woman. She could pull this off. Although, she was not happy I was leaving. I knew she would probably make more money with Vincent out of the picture. Vinnie gambled a lot of the business away. Lula, in spite of how Vinnie felt about it, was getting a chance at being an apprehension agent. Vinnie almost blew a fuse when he heard that one. Especially since he only had 3 agents to begin with, and one of those was Ranger. He only came in for the big cases, so he really didn't count. Connie would have to find some agents to pick up the slack. I was having a hard time believing Lula could pick up anyone without some help.

Lula was looking at me sideways when we left the office.

"I think Scottsdale might be nice." I said, trying to rationalize my intentions. I watched the History Channel. It said Scottsdale was full of historic buildings and stuff."

"Hunuh. I don't think you realize where Scottsdale is? That's desert, girl. Rattlesnakes, spiders, scorpions kinda desert. I looked it up." She said. "It's hot in Scottsdale. Your hair will frizz, you'll get all dried up like a prune. You want to look like a prune?"

Being prune-like didn't sound all that fantastic.

Connie and Lula were taking all of this really well. Actually I think they were shell-shocked. They both made me promise that tonight, we were going out. It didn't matter what I said, I had no choice. They wanted to know what the heck was up. They wanted details. I needed a girl's night anyway. They were picking me up at eight.

I called my Dad; I needed a ride, and a car. I decided that an armored tank like the Buick might be what I needed to ward off the creeps that I kept getting. I was paranoid about being outside. What if the sniper rumor Ranger put in my head was true? I was not going to be anyone's target today.

My Father pulled up to the curb. His cab was doing the local rounds anyway, he said he was in the neighborhood. He had retired from the Post Office three years before. He bought an old cab, fixed it up and now he ran his buddies around in it for some extra money.

He asked me if I wouldn't mind stopping by the house and coming in for a few minutes. He said my mother was ironing again. She needed someone else to talk to besides Grandma Mazur. He said I needed to run some interference. I wanted to pick up the Buick,anyway. We pulled up to the curb. My father and I looked over at Mom and Grandma Mazur. Grandma has lived with us since Grandpa Mazur was doing the Polka with Jesus. They were both standing at the door watching us.

"I wonder if everyone's family was as crazy as ours?" He said.

I didn't have an answer for that one.

I opened the door and climbed out, thanking him for the ride. Grandma had a book of the occult in her hand. She glanced at me and tried to give me an evil stare. Today she was in all black. Black dress, black patent leather shoes, and a big cross around her neck. She could pass as a witch on Halloween.

"What? What did I do?" I said as Grandma continued to stare at me with weird piercing eyes.

"Wait." She said, putting her hand up to her temple. "I am getting a headache. I almost saw your future, Stephanie. I saw lawn furniture and Pez candies." She used her arms to do a dramatic sweep of the yard, staring far away.

My mother put her hands on her hips. "Oh for Heaven's sake, you're staring at lawn furniture, and at Mary Alice's Pez candy horse. I can't take anymore of this nonsense. Kill me now, Lord, take me away. I'm ready." She made the sign of the cross and walked into the house. "Stephanie. I need to talk to you in the kitchen." She said, as her voice drifted from inside the house.

My mother only asked to talk to me in the kitchen when there was a real dilemma. Which was about once a week.

When I walked in, she was hunting for a bottle, but I didn't think she had anything strong enough. "Your Grandmother has gotten it in her head that she's psychic. She has a new friend, God help us. You know her, Hell everyone knows her. It's Bella. Joe's Grandmother."

Eeek. I was afraid the rumors were true.

"People keep calling, saying that your grandmother is practicing witchcraft and that she and Bella are going to move in together, start a cult. This town is going down the tubes, I tell you. What I am going to tell everyone?" She took a glass down and poured herself some brandy. "You need to talk to Joe, find out what he knows about all this. I can't even get a moments peace with all this nonsense."

I knew my Mom was upset, but hearing Joe and I broke up was not going to help. I leaned on the kitchen counter, contemplating. "I don't know If I can call him." I picked up a piece of cheese and ate it. "We broke up."

My Mother glared at me. "Don't tell me that. I don't want to hear that now. Linda Santorin's Daughter's married, and has four kids. Elizabeth Croat's Daughter Beth is a Lawyer, She's married with a child on the way. And what, I have one daughter who is on her second marriage, this time to a Kloughn, and another who gets blown up and is never going to give me grandchildren." She tried to stop herself from saying that last part, but it slipped out. She put her hand up to her mouth, but it was too late.

I narrowed my eyes. There it was. She wanted me to get pregnant and have a child! "You were secretly wishing Joe would knock me up! Then we would have to get married!"

"Well." My Mother said, taking another drink. "I can't say it wouldn't be a nice change. It would keep you from getting in the newspaper every week."

I couldn't believe her. She was being selfish. She wanted me to settle down and be, well, normal. Agh! My own family! I was normal-ish. I wasn't ready to have children and settle down to a life, like my sisters.

"Listen," She said. "Be mad at me later about that. I have phone calls from half the neighborhood telling me you lost another car too. I am willing to let that go. Just fix your grandmother. She is going off the deep end!"

I thought it is safe to say she'd been teetering for a few years now. But I didn't.

I went outside took a deep breath, and called Joe.

"Yep" he said. Not much for conversation, I guess. I sighed.

"My mother wanted me to call you, and find out what is going on with Bella and Grandma Mazur."

There was silence.

"Hello?"

"Give me a minute." He hung up.

I was being rational here. But it really hurt my heart to hear his voice. I missed him, I missed Bob. I wondered if I got visitation.

I was hugging myself. Thinking about visitation, when he called back. "My Mother didn't know about this. Thanks for the heads up."

"Joe?" I said. "Do I get visitation?"

"With me, or Bob?"

"With Bob."

"How would that work, Stephanie? This is hard enough, please don't make it harder."

I sighed, and hung up. We had used Bob many times to fix our relationship. I guess this time; Bob wasn't allowed to work it out.

I declined dinner with my parents. I had promised Connie and Lula some time, and I needed to go home and get ready. Grandma was going to another viewing tonight. They had Florence Picador laid out, and it was going to be a full house. Bella and Grandma were going together. I really was glad I didn't have to drive them.


	4. Chapter 4

Section 4

Lula sat facing the lights of the stage. We took our seats next to her, drinks in hand. "We were real lucky to get these seats; we're so close to the stage!" She said.

We were at "The Submarine". Ernie Berger bought The Snake Pit and turned it into an all male strip club on the weekends. Since the movie "Magic Mike", there has been a big draw for male strip clubs with sexy muscle-bound men. During the week it could be rented out for events. Thursday was Bingo, and Tuesday's slot was held for AA meetings. All the other days were open only for private parties. Tonight was a charity event for The Fireman's Fund. It was a benefit to help with costs of medical bills and care for firemen when they were hurt on the job. The advertisement promised all the men from the 12 month "Trenton's Hottest Fireman" calendar would be there, along with entertainment from the entire lineup of Trenton's version of Chippendale dancers. It was a huge event from the line we saw outside. I hadn't been here since Ernie took it over. He had gotten rid of the mud wrestling and went with a stage show instead. We were sitting center stage. Front row. Ernie Berger was Connie's second cousin twice removed. Apparently he just kept coming back for more. She had gotten the tickets from him, and we had first dibs on seating.

Lights dimmed and red and purple spotlights pulsated to the beat of the music. The crowd of women shoved forward in anticipation. We all stood up, so we could see what was happening . A man dressed in a full fire-suit walked onstage. The spotlights turned towards him. He moved with the music hypnotizing us with his hip movements and grinding motions. Two more men came out wearing full gear, and moving to the music. The crowd moved with them. I found myself drawn into it. With a quick tug, his whole shirt was off, creating more of a stir in the already under-sexed over stimulated crowd, revealing a bare oiled chest rippled with muscles. For some reason images of Ranger danced in my head. Not that I would want him on stage, but I think I was a little motivated by the amount of sex and suggestions that flowed through this club, or maybe I had a little too much to drink. Whatever the reason, I was going with it. The music flowed, I could feel it vibrating through me. With another flick of his wrist, his pants dropped off, leaving him onstage with only a tiny g-string keeping it all in. It was metallic silver with a little American flag sewn on. Of course he still had on his hat. The song picked up again, changing, flowing into another pulsating crowd pleaser. He picked up a fire hose and positioned it between his legs stroking it like it was his own. Moving his hips, and rocking back and forth. I saw several women with dollar bills struggle towards the front of the stage, arms out. Waiting for their chance to touch the hypnotic man who was in front of them. My beer was knocked out of my hand from the elbow of an elderly woman, as she pushed her way to the front of the stage. The men behind Mr. silver g-string pulled off their shirts and pants showing us all black satin thongs that sparkled with the lights. They all stepped in uniform to the beat, like backstreet boys in the raw. I was mesmerized by the dancing sacks, and I had to take a drink of Lula's Margarita to help me process what was happening in front of me. I had to say, Ernie had a good thing going here.

I was beginning to wonder if we would be trampled by the crowd of desperate housewives. Lula and Connie were up on top of their chairs so they could have a better view. Being not entirely sober I thought that was a good idea, and I stepped onto my chair, nearly falling. If I fell on my face tonight, at least I would have a good excuse. Lula was jiggling around, dancing as best she could on a tiny chair. Getting a much better view of the dancing man with the fire hose than I was. He was on his knees, fire hose in hand, moving with the fast pace of the music. Lula screamed out "Yeah baby, come on! We wanna see you explode!"

Mr. silver g-string turned the fire hose on. Water came out in a force so powerful, that he lost control. It appeared that it was an accident by the shocked look on his face. I don't actually think it was supposed to be still attached to a working connection. He turned the hose on the crowd to find a way to turn it back off. The crowds of women in front of us were trying to get out-of-the-way as the hose came in contact. The music kept pumping as the men on stage tried to finish the act and use the water as part of the show. The fire hose slipped out of silver g-strings grip when he turned the lever the wrong way, blasting us full force with water. I was launched off my stool and onto two women that were behind me. I grabbed for Connie, Connie grabbed for Lula, and we all tumbled onto the floor with a crash. All around us, were people losing their battle with the fire hose gone wild. I don't think anyone realized there was a pressure gauge and shut off valve on the nozzle. I scrambled to get up, the club was flooded with water. Emergency lights were going on. G-string was still onstage, struggling to jump on top of the hose and get it under control, His silver loincloth flapping around giving anyone who cared a full view of his undercarriage. The two men on stage with him, tried in vain to grab the hose and were washed off stage knocking into us, throwing us back down on top of each other. Lula pulled Connie to her feet just as; Whoosh, the water came back around again knocking them back over again and picking me up and throwing me across the room into the wall.

We all stayed down until real fireman came into the club and shut the water off.

I shimmied up the wall. I dripped out to the curb, ringing my shirt out,pulling off my boots to pour water out. There were four fire trucks and five ambulances' pulled up in the parking lot. I watched as a crowd of people filed out of the doors of the club. Most were disheveled and soaking wet. It didn't take long to spot Connie and Lula. Connie was walking with a limp. She was getting a decent black eye. Lula had only one high heel on and half her dress was missing. She had a towel wrapped around her waist, in an attempt to hide what the good Lord had given her.

"What the hell happened in there?" Lula said. "One minute we are all ready to see a real show, and then whoosh! Water everywhere. We're lucky we weren't killed! What were they thinking having a real fire hose go off in there? They'll be lucky if someone doesn't sue their ass over that crap!" Lula was trying to hold herself in the dress, but it wasn't working. Her Boobs kept falling out. "I need to stop off at my house if we are going anyplace else. I'm not going anywhere like this."

We all went our separate ways in an attempt at dry clothes. They were both coming back to my apartment. It would be a girl's night in.

Connie brought over Pino's pizza, and Lula brought the beer. We stood in the kitchen while we ate. Connie had a shiner the size of a baseball. "It was the black loincloth guy that elbowed me. Good thing he was cute". She said.

"So, that was your car on the flatbed the other night?" Connie said. "What happened? Don't say it's a long story. We're here; we want to know what's going on with you. You never just want to leave town. You've just made a deal with that creepy cousin of yours. You better have a real good reason to leave, especially when I could use your help with the office. "

I told them about Rangers theory of a sniper, and how the people in the other car acted. I also told them about the dead guy in the back seat.

"So you think someone was shooting at you? I thought everyone you've pissed off was either dead or in prison."

"I don't know who I could have pissed off this time."I said.

Connie's eyes got big. "You know, Tony the Tool is in town. Maybe it was him that shot at you." She was nodding her head up and down. "Or, maybe he was trying to shoot someone else and you got in the way. You could be an innocent bystander."

Lula and I looked at her sideways.

"It could happen. Right, Stephanie? I mean, how many times can someone shoot at you and miss?"

We all thought about that.

I had to ask, even though I really didn't want to know. "Who is Tony the Tool?" (Hoping it was a plumber or something.)

"What I wanna know," Lula piped in "Is why he is called "The Tool?"

Connie went on to tell us that Tony the Tool was a hit man from New York. She didn't know why he was called "The Tool". She didn't want to find out, either. She also said he's only hired when there is a special "problem" that needs to be "fixed."

I really hoped I was not that "Special". Or a "Problem" that needed to be "fixed".

I told them about what happened with Joe and his "walking disaster" comment. By the time I finished the story, even I was feeling like he may have had a point, especially reviewing the events of tonight. Even though things were not my fault, they still blew up all around me, and even on me. What kind of wife could I make for someone? I grew up traditional. You get married, you have kids, you have holiday parties and dinners for Christmas. You have a Christmas tree. Easter egg hunts. You do dishes, and cook. All those things, I just figured would come naturally. They would just happen, but they haven't. I still cook everything in the microwave and have a running tab at the deli. Connie and Lula are my friends. But I think they must have found some truth in his statements, or they would have said something. Instead we were silent. Looking at the empty pizza box, and taking another drag off the beer. I guess that maybe I had been a walking disaster after all. Shit.

"Stephanie, I don't care if it's true or untrue. You don't go around telling girls they are disasters. It could ruin their whole life. I think Joe is a real asshole for saying that to you."

She reached over, and hugged me.

Lula said I could borrow her little black book. There were some fine men in that book, since she was not going to use it for a while. (Tank and Lula were getting pretty close), I could take it. It was nice of her, but I didn't think that I wanted any book, black or otherwise.

I wanted Joe. I wanted to erase the last couple days. "Life would be more simple if there were do-over's."

"Maybe." Connie said. "But in your case, I am not so sure. "

We drank the rest of the night away. Tank picked up a very drunk Lula at 2am; Connie hitched a ride home with them. Rex and I stayed in rest of the night, wrapped up in Joe's T-shirt. I wasn't ready to face that we were through just yet.

The middle of August in Trenton is nothing to sneeze at. It is hot and muggy. Uncomfortable to wear more than nothing. If we could all walk around nude, it wouldn't be so bad. I was getting good at lying low. Many nights I stayed at Mary Lou's house, some nights at my parents, I even spent a couple of nights at Lula's. I wasn't much company, and I was in a horrible mood. Ranger was in the wind. He was out of the country. I think he was keeping his distance from me. Maybe because I was now, and probably in the future, unattached to Morelli. Or maybe he actually was working, and it was a coincidence. I knew if I needed anyone or anything, I could call Tank. No one had tried to shoot at me, and Vinnie was personally taking all the apprehension work. I was helping just enough to keep my rent paid. Joe didn't call. I didn't call him either. I carefully avoided driving down his street, even though I wanted to. New Jersey was pulling itself through another summer; I was just floating along for the ride.

Vincent Plum Bail Bonds was moving to a two-story strip mall location on 4th avenue. Vinnie signed the papers to take over rent on an older building on the outskirts of downtown Scottsdale. We would be next to a laundromat, and a check cashing station. The first floor was a 900 square foot area, with a small office in the back. Stairs facing the back lot of the building go up to the second floor, where there was a studio apartment with 2 bedrooms. I couldn't believe I was going to be living in the same space as Vinnie, the family pervert. What was I thinking? I felt like I would break out in hives at any moment.

Everything I owned was in storage. I had cleaned out my apartment. It held plenty of great memories, but also held some truly terrifying ones. Rex wasn't going with me. I didn't want him to have to travel across country. I asked Mary Lou if she would watch him for me while I was gone. She had two kids who would adore a little hamster. I would miss him, but I thought he would be happier in Jersey.

When I told my parents I was leaving for a while, my mother panicked. Moving was one thing, moving across country was completely crazy. She told me to call when I came to my senses and she would send me a bus ticket home. My Dad was concerned that I was putting too much faith in one of his relatives, but was secretly proud of me for getting out of Jersey and looking for something else. Hell, my sister lived in California for years. I could do this. The Police were concerned about the couple from the accident that had been in the other car. I guess they had left the police station when no one came in to talk to them for an hour. They hadn't been seen since. Although no bodies had washed up, so I wasn't to concerned. I would have left also. I hadn't seen Joe. I didn't know if he knew I was leaving, but he never called. I figured that was a pretty final goodbye. He was keeping his distance. I suppose it was the right thing to do when you have chosen to end a relationship for good.

I took a good look at my apartment for the last time, and shut the door. Locking it. Ranger was leaning against the wall in the hall, waiting for me. I hadn't seen him since the night he sat with me on the couch. His hair was longer than usual, falling just above his eyes. He had on his work clothes. Rangeman black. T-shirt, cargo pants, boots, gun strapped into his belt. I knew from working with him, he also carried a gun at his back and a knife in his boot. He appeared relaxed, but I know firsthand, relaxed Ranger is dangerous.

"Yo" I said. Finishing locking the door. "This is a surprise. I thought you were on some secret mission. Gone for weeks. At least that was what Tank told me."

Ranger's mouth twitched, and a little smile peeked out.

"I wasn't gone, I was unavailable. "

"As in unavailable for everyone, or unavailable for me?" I said

"Unavailable for you. Are you really going to Scottsdale? Or is it temporary insanity?"

"Unavailable for me?" I repeated, crossing my arms in front of me.

"I didn't think you needed me to get in the middle of whatever was happening between you and Morelli. So I stayed out of it."

"You let Tank lie to me? What if I needed something?" I was getting slightly irritated at his smug attitude. What, did he stay away because I was an emotional wreck? Ok, maybe he had a point.

Ranger's eyebrows rose. "Did you need something?"

"No." Maybe. "But, that's not the point!" I was having a difficult time explaining why I was pissed. Maybe I was angry because Ranger wouldn't let me forget about Joe by having lots of unbridled sex with him, which is exactly what I would have done, if he had been around. Ok, so maybe that would have made things more confusing.

Ranger was quietly waiting for me to get a grip, and figure everything out. He knew as well as I did, that using him to try to push Joe out of my head, wouldn't be healthy for either of us. Plus, I didn't want to use sex to make it go away. Ok, maybe I did. But I guess he had a point. I did a mental frustrated sigh, because knowing Ranger was usually right, really pissed me off. I had a hard time arguing with him. He always ended up making sense, and I always ended up looking like an idiot.

"Yes. I might be temporarily insane." I said, changing the subject. "When Vinnie brought it up, Scottsdale seemed like a good idea. No one knows me in Arizona."

"So, you think moving across the country will solve your problems?"

"No, but I can't be here now. All I want to do is hide in my apartment and cry. I wasn't expecting Joe to end our relationship like that. I can't sit here in Jersey, and watch him go on with his life. It hurts, and I don't think it's healthy. Maybe I do need to be alone for a while. Plus, there might still be a sniper out looking for ways to kill me. I'm getting tired of running, hiding, getting shot at, destroying cars, and buildings. None of those things happen to normal people. None of those things really ever even happen to you."

"I hate to be the one to break this to you, but you'll never be normal. Your way above normal. Trust me, it's a good trait. Keep it. Those things do happen to me. Just not as much."

"Not only that," I said. Getting more frustrated. "I'm tired of being on tape doing stupid shit. Being laughed at. I want to be good at something. If I leave I can concentrate on working on my skills, without someone calling my mother and telling her about it all the time."

Ranger came over to me, and slid his hands under my shirt wrapping them around my waist, pulling me to him.

"You think leaving will make you good at something?"

It was hard to keep a serious conversation about being an emotional flop, when he had his hands in my shirt.

I tried to concentrate. "Maybe, I could work on it better without an audience."

He cupped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me close to him, and kissed me. He was good at a lot of things. This was one of them. I felt heat rush down my body, as he pulled me in closer. My fingers instinctively grasped at his shirt, and I pressed myself against him. If I could just get my key out of my back pocket. We didn't need a bed, right? I had vacuumed, the apartment was completely clean. All I needed was a wall, or a floor or even the kitchen counter.

He broke from the kiss. I was breathing hard. Trying to find which pocket I had the key in.

"What are you doing?" He said to me.

"Trying to find the fricken' key to the apartment, what do you think I'm doing?"

He smiled one of those killer smiles he held out for special occasions. "You want me bad."

Well, yeah I did, I was breaking a sweat!

"Tank is waiting for me in the car."

Are you kidding me?

"Then why the hell did you kiss me like that?"

Mrs. Griswaldi opened her door and looked out. "Are you almost finished out there? I really want to hear my program. Maury Povitch is on, and he is talking to Lesbians. I never get a chance to see them on T.V."

"Yes, we were just leaving." I said. Grabbing my bag off the floor and adjusting my shirt.

I hit the button for the elevator and waited with Ranger beside me. I supposed having goodbye gorilla sex with Ranger may have led me to not really want to go to Scottsdale at all. I could completely blow everything off. But then what? Get the apartment back? Have great sex all the time, maybe even constantly with a man who did not want more than that? It sounded good right now, but what about a week from now? OK. Be realistic here, what about a month from now? Or a year? Yeah, I think a year of constant great sex with Ranger would be about right before I started questioning our relationship.

I would really miss him. Not just the way he oozed sex appeal and innuendos. It was the walk, and his way of doing things. Ranger had been a really good confidant. A friend, and a gifted lover. If one thing could keep me in Trenton, It was definitely how I felt about him. He walked me out to big blue, and kissed me again.

"You are good at a lot of things, Babe. Don't think your problems are going to go away in Scottsdale. Call me if you need anything. I can't step foot into Arizona without red flags going off, but I have some people out there who can help if you need them to.

"Do you still think there might be someone taking shots at me?"

"We haven't picked up anything more than Connie's lead on The Tool being in town, and that could mean a lot of things. It's been a while, nothing has come of it, so looks like you're in the clear."

He kissed me again, and got into the Mercedes with Tank. I waived at both of them, and got into the Buick and motored over to my parents house for a going away party.

It was Noon the next day when we left for Scottsdale. Rex was safe with Mary Lou, and I promised to come home for Christmas and see him. She promised to keep his cage clean and make sure he was happy. It was strange leaving. I had gone to college for a while, but never was I to far away to come home for the night if I needed to. Neither Ranger nor Joe came to say goodbye. Giving me the opportunity to just get out there, and jump off that roof again.


	5. Chapter 5

I checked my watch. Eleven pm. I stretched. I thought it might be Wednesday. We've traveled nearly 2,000 miles across the country. I picked up the map book. It was dog-eared. The cover had torn off when we had left it on the hood of the moving van, on route 470. I took my penlight out of the glove compartment and checked our route. We were in New Mexico, and I was running ragged. I had never been this close to wanting to strangle Vinnie before. I had no idea how Lucille had tolerated him for as long as she did. We have been in the moving van for three days straight, stopping at rest areas, sleeping at truck stops and eating at all night diners. Vinnie wouldn't stop singing along with the radio, and telling dirty jokes. It was literally driving me insane. I wanted out of the van so bad, I was willing to hook up with a traveling circus if it would get me away from him. What the hell was I thinking? My stomach had never felt this horrible, my brain was fried, and my hair was a rat's nest. I hadn't had a good night's sleep since we left Trenton.

Ranger's words came back to me. He had asked me if this idea to move to Scottsdale was temporary insanity. Yes! it had been. I already was conspiring how long it would take me to get back home with the promised bus ticket. I leaned back in the seat staring up at the ceiling of the van. Let's see. I would get on the bus, be back in a week, have no apartment, and no job. People would say,"Hey, didn't you move to Arizona?" Then I would have to tell them I couldn't tolerate my cousin. And then, well then, they would look at me like I was an idiot. Worse than that, No Joe. I would die sad and lonely. An old maid. Agh. I thunked my head against the dashboard. Get a grip, Stephanie.

I glanced in the rear view mirror. I instantly regretted it. Vinnie was up against the truck, and a bad dye-job hooker was on her knees doing the crotch bop with him. Could this get much worse? I tried hard not to throw up, the image was still burning in my head, even when I closed my eyes. I looked over at the drivers side, the keys were still in the ignition. I slid over and turned the key. I put it the van in gear and started rolling away. I checked the rear-view mirror again. Vinnie was trying to run after the van, pulling up his pants and screaming obscenities at me. The hooker was standing where the truck had been, arms crossed, looking upset. He tried to pull his pants up and run at the same time, but he fell over. I stopped long enough for him to get into the truck. I took off with his door still open.

"What the hell, Stephanie!"

"I swear to God, Vinnie, If you ever do that in front of me again, I will leave you there."

We drove into Scottsdale the next day. The air conditioner in the van was on full, and it wasn't cutting it. The afternoon was just beginning, and the temperature in the truck was rising. We had gotten through New Mexico and Arizona before the sun came up. It had been warm at 3am. But this was beyond what I considered hot. We drove down streets lined with newer cars and trucks, that seemed to me should have melted where they sat. All windows open just a little so that the heat of the car had somewhere to go. The stores and shops were clearly tourist driven. According the map, we were in Old Town. Decorated like the old west with trading posts, Indian jewelry shops, and clothing stores meant to attract seasonal shoppers. We moved through town, driving down Drinkwater. I thought that was a perfect name, and exactly what I wanted. Water. I was lacking moisture. My mouth felt like the desert itself. I had already finished off all the water we had.

We drove through downtown, went up 5th avenue. Shops turned into stores and mini malls. I searched the map for 4th street. Finally finding it, we drove through looking for the building. I did not see any people. I had an idea that most sane people stayed indoors till the sun went down. I think I was getting a sunburn through the glass of the window, and I moved away from it . We both looked out at the building that would house us and "Vincent Plum Bail Bonds." It was placed on the end of a long row of strip businesses attached together with common walls. a concrete sidewalk and a wood awning shaded the front of the building from some of the sun's damaging heat. Vinnie was right about the Laundromat being next door. The check cashing place was 3 doors down. Next door was vacant. There was a few cars in the parking lot. Mostly for the laundromat and the liquor store on the opposite corner. This was not a big business area. I took a deep breath. Vinnie used a key and opened up the door. If this was going to be my next phase of life, I needed to make the best of it.

Between Vinnie and I, we had the entire office set up and ready for doing business in two weeks flat. This was a resort town. Golf was big here. Most of the bond business would be low. Coming mostly from rich golf pros and executives that had too much to drink and drove home drunk. There was ten other bond agencies in Scottsdale. All were older businesses, who had been here for 20 or more years. People would go to them before they would come to us.

It was a lot different from Trenton. Trenton was a big town with a lot of heritage. Families never left. People who grew up there, for the most part, stuck around. Grandparents were close to parents, who were close to their kids. Close knit. A community. Chambersburg was definitely on that level. Scottsdale was a city that was new. I doubted there were nosy neighbors and phone tree action here. People who lived here, usually came from somewhere else. There were some who grew up and grew old in this town, but it was about two percent of the overall population and maybe a quarter of a percent that got in any kind of trouble. I tried not to concentrate on the facts, and instead did what I needed to do to get myself a license to apprehend in the state of Arizona. Vinnie had just ordered the new sign that was going to be placed outside above the door. For now we had a canvas sign that had been pre-ordered before we arrived.

"Vincent Plum Bail Bonds" was now in business. I found out Arizona does not have many bail bondsmen and enforcement laws to obey. Bail recovery agents have to submit a set of fingerprints, have a criminal background check on record at the police department, and be identified in a report filed by a licensed bail bonds agent. Vinnie. No training or licenses required, except for your gun. They also suggest you register with the Dept. of Insurance. I doubted we would ever get around to doing that. They also suggest you take a police tactical training course. Vinnie refused, but I signed up. I could use the training.

October was fast approaching. I was getting ready to go check out the Scottsdale mall. Camilla Jones was my FTA. She worked at Carl Stratton's Hair Salon. It was located on the second floor of the Scottsdale Mall. The bond was small, But we couldn't be out money right now. I have had some luck with mall apprehensions. Some bad luck and a little good luck. What's good about being at the mall, is if you can't find who you're looking for, you can always go shopping. I was hoping this would go down smoothly. A hair stylist. What could go wrong? I picked up a magazine from the table next to the receptionist desk. A girl of about 15 was filing her well manicured nails and trying to look busy. There were five stylists, all with clients. My hair was pretty fried out from the Sun, I felt I had a believable excuse to want to see Camilla Jones.

"Can I help you?" she said smartly. Checking out her latest text message as she spoke.

"I would like to get my hair trimmed. Maybe do something different with it."

"Hum.." She eyed my hair. "What happened to it?"

My hand lifted to my head. I had it up in a pony tail. I looked in the mirror, It was completely in frazzle mode. If I didn't get it some help soon, I may have to shave my head and start over. She flipped through the appointment calendar on the computer.

"We can put you with Sharon now, if you would like. She is free until after three. She's great. She does all my extensions." I looked at her hair. I hadn't even noticed she had extensions.

"How long is your hair without the extensions?" I said

"Well, My hair is actually cut just above my ears. I like to keep it super short so I can add hair and make it as long as I want."

Her hair was a combination of light blond,hot pink and black.

"I love all the colors."

"Yeah, my boyfriend," She paused trying to collect a thought. "Well, he said that I should have my hair in three shades. He said If I wanted to ever be anyone , I had to have statement hair."

"What about Miss Jones?" I said. "I have heard so many great things about her. Does she do extensions too?"

"Camilla? Um.. "

Just as she said that, the woman who Camilla was working on, jumped out of her chair.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me with those scissors? You just about cut my ear off."

Camilla was trying to calm the woman down. "I'm so sorry! I have been under a lot of pressure lately. My hand just slipped."

The receptionist ran over to the woman but it was too late. She stormed out of the salon. "You better believe I am reporting this on Yelp!"

"The receptionist looked at me, Well. I think she is available now."

There was no way I was letting her scalp me. I walked over to Camilla Jones and gave her my card, and handcuffed her. She was still in shock over the almost scalping, so she didn't put up much of a fight.

"Its my boyfriend." She said, as we walked to the Jeep. "He is the reason I got arrested, He called the cops on me after he said I stabbed him with my scissors. Honestly, I just got nervous. He was telling me how he wanted his hair cut. I just got out of cosmetology school, this is my first job. I was practicing on him." She said. "When he yelled at me , I accidentally stabbed him. It could happen to anyone, really."

"So why didn't you go to court?"

"I didn't want to go to jail. They probe you for drugs and stuff. I couldn't face the humility."

"Maybe he will come to his senses and drop the charges."

"You think so? Well, Maybe after he gets out of the hospital, I will ask him."

"Yikes."

I would need to remember not to ever let her cut my hair.

We motored over to the Scottsdale Police Department. My cell phone rang. The number came up restricted. Not many people had restricted numbers anymore. It was Ranger.

"Yo." I said casually.

"I can't protect you in Arizona."

"I never asked you to."

"I have an outstanding weapons charge in Nevada and Arizona. My lawyers are working on it.

"Ok, So it's like a no fly zone for you?"

I could sense him smile on the other end of the phone.

"I have one man in Scottsdale. Kyle Reese. He can help, you if you get into trouble. He can also give you some self-defense classes if you feel like you need them. I will have the office send you the cell phone number to your email address. He's already is aware you're in Scottsdale."

"Who is he, again?"

"He and I have worked together before. He's trustworthy on a professional level."

"On a professional level?"

"On a professional level, yes. Very trustworthy. With you, no."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Babe."

Ranger hung up. What the hell was that?

Our first high bond case came in two weeks later. Both of us knew instantly that Thomas Garvey would not show up for his court case. His girlfriend walked in with two little kids in tow. She had a black eye, and was missing some teeth. Her hand was bandaged up and she was limping. As far as I knew, that meant only one thing. While she talked to Vinnie about how to go about getting her boyfriend out of jail, I looked up Thomas Garvey. He was listed as a flight risk. His bond was high. The court was assuming that he could easily run. Bail was set at three hundred thousand big ones. His record had shown that he was arrested for domestic abuse, and it had happened five times before. No shock there. When the police arrived, he barricaded himself in the house with the girl and her kids. It took a team of eight to get him out. When they arrested him, they found he was high on PCP. Thomas Garvey wasn't from Arizona. He was from Minnesota. He had only his girlfriend, as a tie to the area. I thought it was a really risky. Vinnie and I were not exactly ready to pick up a client such as this. Vinnie bonded him out anyway. He said sometimes you needed to take chances. Plus he felt between us, we could pick him up if we needed too. I was not as confident on that one as he was.

I signed up for self-defense classes at a local business that held the classes once a week. In an upstairs loft of a book store. The first day, I broke the instructors nose. I decided if I could get him with an elbow, there was not a lot he could teach me. It was getting close to Thomas Garvey's court case. I started keeping an eye on him. The more I watched his movements; Girlfriends house, the golf range, the gym, the gun range, the gym and back to the girlfriends house; the more I wanted a better gun. He just seemed dangerous. I bought a Sig Sauer P229. I had asked some of the nicer cops at the police station what they suggested. I got the same answer from all of them. The Sig Sauer was the first choice for law enforcement. I don't really know how well they thought I could do this job, but when I kept bringing in FTA's, they started talking to me. I went to the shooting range once a week to get more comfortable with the gun. No one had my back out here, and I wanted to remember that.

I bought a Jeep CJ-7 with Four Wheel drive and a V-8. I wanted something that would move me through the desert when I needed to go off-road, chasing someone. It was black, and it was cool. I mostly wanted it so I could drive around with the top off. This time, I had the truck checked out by a local mechanic before I bought it. It was old, but it was solid.

We started getting more clients after an ad in the Scottsdale paper came out, or It could be because Vinnie went to all the strip clubs and handed out his card. We were a favorite of porn stars, strippers and hookers. One thing about those girls, they needed to work. They were low risk bonds. I worked the computer and did the paperwork for Vinnie. He was mostly scouting for new clients, in other words, he was hanging out at the strip clubs. Vincent rented a house near the Scottsdale mall. It was a one story styled for withstanding the heat of the desert. and had a red tile roof top and a 2 car garage. The front was pretty, but it was sparse. It had a small front yard and a cactus rock garden with a slightly larger back yard. A small patio and a Jacuzzi sat by the back window. I decided to let Vinnie have the house, I would stay with the apartment. It was cheaper, and I liked the roof. You could see almost all Scottsdale from that vantage point.

I missed Jersey. New places are great, but it's not home. I joined a gym, then after two weeks, decided I hated the gym and canceled the membership. I tried Yoga. I couldn't find my calm center. I finally called Ranger's man, Kyle Reese. I thought maybe he could give me some tactical instruction. He had a studio downtown. He asked that I meet him after classes were over. While I waited, I went next door to a coffee-house. They had doughnuts, so I bought three. They had Boston Cream. I had to remember where this place was.

Kyle Reese was a bad ass. I watched him take down every one of his students. He was teaching a class on technical take-downs. All the men looked like they could hold their own. I sat on one of the chairs and ate my doughnut and watched him . He was about Six foot two. Probably in his late 30's. You could tell His students had a huge amount of respect for him. On all the walls of most dojo's I had been in, were trophies, ribbons, pictures, and awards. This one had none of those things. Just a sign outside stating his business " Place of the Way" and a list of classes available. Next to his office door there was one picture. I walked over, and looked at it. It was a 8x10 picture of a squad of men. I picked him out, because he was standing beside the squad, and he had on a different color uniform. I also picked out a few faces I had seen before. Tank. And Hal. Not only them, Ranger. There he was, second from the right, standing at attention. He was younger, and looked scarier than he did now. All the men looked like trouble. I took another bite of my doughnut and for some reason; I wanted a copy of this picture. I looked around for a copier. Most offices had them. Kyle was standing behind me.

"You must be Stephanie. No one else would even consider swiping that picture off my wall."

I smiled and shook his hand. Trying to swallow my doughnut.

"Ranger told me some things about you," He said smiling.

He had my attention. "What did he say?"

"He said you could use my help. You were undisciplined, you ate poorly, you hated guns, and you couldn't hold your liquor, but that I would like you anyways."

I took the last piece of doughnut and ate it. Then wiped my hands on my jeans.

"Oh yeah? That's what he said, huh?"

"He also said you were a good judge of character; you had a knack for finding people, that you could hold your own when it came to taking people down and I could trust you. He also said you were off-limits."

"He said that, did he?" I had heard him say that before, It was a pet peeve of mine. It really pissed me off.

He smiled. "I don't listen to Ranger much. But I do owe him. It is because of me that he can't come to Arizona."

Finding someone who has known Ranger for a while, and talked about it? This might be the start of a great friendship.

Kyle wanted me to start coming to the studio twice a week. He said he could teach me how to subdue people quicker and not have to rely on guns as much. Using my body as a weapon could be just as effective, especially in an up-close situation. Of course he suggested I dump my bad food and dessert habits. They would slow me down.

I called Ranger.

"I understand you think I am undisciplined, and that I can't hold my liquor."

"Kyle was being kind. I also said you were stubborn, hard-headed, and you were a pain the ass."

"Just to be clear. You told him I was off-limits, too."

"I asked him to help you, not hand him a snack."

I would seriously need to think about that last remark.

I didn't know how Vinnie he did it, but he was getting clients. Most of the cases we were getting were pretty easy. We were a small agency, and according to one woman, "she didn't want any of her husband's golf buddies to find out she had been arrested for drunk driving, so she came to us." When she didn't show up for court, I found her at the mall under a hair dryer. After promising she wouldn't go to jail for a first offense, I brought her in. She told her friends about us, and we ended up with a lot a business from word of mouth.

I felt like I was getting better at apprehension. Although, how hard was it to apprehend a drunk hooker, a sleeping drug dealer, or a paraplegic? It still gave me confidence. Kyle Reece started training me on take down, and better ways to apprehend people. So far I didn't need these skills, but if I did, I would have them.

The paper came in on Thomas Garvey. It meant it was time to step up to the plate and do our job. He hadn't shown up for court. Vinnie was sweating, and not from the heat. Both of us knew he would skip. We had monitored him, and we had both staked out his girlfriends place on several occasions. This would be our first real take down in Scottsdale. I was nervous. I went to the gun range more often and I spent more time training with Kyle. We had been to Karen Arnold's house. She had moved out a week before. No one in the neighborhood had seen Mr. Garvey. I worked on the computers trying to find leads with the search programs we had. Nothing was showing up for him.

Garvey drove silver BMW. Karen Arnold had put up a set of Eight thousand dollar golf clubs as part of collateral for the bond. I checked the clubs, sure enough, the tag on the bag said it had belonged to Garvey. It also gave an address he did not have on file. I showed the tag to Vinnie. 1012 Country Club Way. As far as we knew, Garvey didn't have a job, or a residence at this address.

It's the best lead we had for him. I drove through town, searching for the address. It was not on my GPS. I decided to drive to the largest of the many golf clubs and ask around. When I drove through the gates, there was a booth with a guard. He asked me for my ID and what I needed. I told him who I was, and that I was looking for 1012 Country Club Way. He gave me a map of the resort. He pointed it out. "It's the main road through the resort. 1012 is the main building. It is where all the caddie's hang out, and store their clubs. He gave me a guest pass, and sent me through the gate with directions. He said there would be someone to meet me at the clubhouse. I called Vinnie and asked him to meet me.

Trent Holden was my man. He was waving furiously as I drove up to the building. "Welcome!" he said with a positively polite voice. What can I help you with today?"

"I am looking for a man who may work here. His name is Thomas Garvey."

"Why, sure, he works here. He is one of the caddie's we have available here at Hacienda Country Club. Very sought after by all the pro golfers that come to play. Are you looking to take lessons?"

"Not exactly. You see, Trent. I need to find Mr. Garvey because he missed a court date, and we really need to get him back to make another appointment."

"Oh, that silly thing. Well Tommy told us it was all just a misunderstanding, and he had taken care of it. He even let us know that the money the club put up for the bond, would be returned this coming Friday."

"He did?" Boy, they were in for a big surprise.

"Well, If you could just point me in his general direction, I will need to speak with him about this."

A man matching Thomas's description walked out of the door of the building. I saw him, and he froze. The moment I took a step towards him to took off for the golf carts. A red golf caddie drove by us and pointed a gun at me as he drove away towards the greens.

"Well, I think that's him, but where is he going?" Trent said.

I took off running after it. Golf carts are not that fast, but I was breathing hard trying to catch up. Garvey tried to turn and shoot, but he dropped the gun. I ran up alongside and grabbed Garvey by his shirt and pulled him out of the cart with all my weight, which is not a whole hell of a lot compared to his two hundred and twenty five pound frame. We rolled together on the pavement and into the pond with a cascading waterfall. Ducks went in all directions. I held on tight to him as he struggled to get away. He punched me and I kicked him between the legs. He doubled over and I was able to handcuff him and drag him out of the water still holding himself. I had an audience of three security guards and Vinnie.

"Geez,Stephanie. Is that one of your only moves? You could have waited for backup. At least he could have had children."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It was the middle of June, and I was on the roof of the apartment. Ten months had just skated by. I didn't think about Joe everyday. Maybe every other day, but it definitely was getting better. June in Scottsdale, Arizona is Hot. Not just "oh it's a little warm outside, but more of a scream when your feet fry on the sidewalk hot. I think I had it figured out. You have to be up early, finish everything you need to do outside by Noon, or you could burst into flames. That's how I'm living now. Everything done by Noon. You can start going outside until after Eight PM. I see other people moving around the city in the daytime, just not me. Not in June. Today was my day off. We kept the office open during the weekends, but unless there was a huge crowd of convicts who needed bail, you could manage the office on Saturday alone. I had a plan. I had my lounge chair set up on the roof of the office, my iPod, my water mister, my ear-buds. Plus an ice chest with beer and water. Because I was listening (sort of), to Kyle. I had some grapes with my meatball sub.

I was going to get a tan. I had on my new Bikini on, and I was attempting to not burn in all the wrong places. There are lots of wrong places to burn. Between your thighs is not a good place. Under your boobs, not good. The top of your foot, also not a great place, and your butt. Very painful. Of course, your bikini line. That's the worst. As I was adjusting myself, I put down my beer, and the bottle exploded. I froze mid adjust. I knew exactly what was happening. My life caught up with me and came back into focus. Oh Shit.

I needed to move my butt off the chair. I grabbed my purse and flipped the lounge chair over, only to realize it was plastic. As most people recall, plastic does not stop bullets. Realizing this did nothing for my pounding heart. The stairs leading back downstairs to the apartment and office were about forty feet from where I was. I could still hear the music from the iPod. I pulled the ear-buds out of my ears. Having theme music is OK, but "Enter the Sandman" might not be the right choice when trying to stay alive. I ran for it. Gun shots came in two different directions, hitting the ground around me. The shots ricocheted off the ground hitting the sand from the roof and spitting it back at me. I kept my head down and focused on the stairs. I iPod dropped and exploded as a bullet hit. I barreled down the stairs, keeping myself in the shadow between the roof and the apartment below. I needed a weapon. My gun was in the apartment. I crept down the stairs, slowly. I tried to remember what Kyle had taught me about using my body as a weapon, but my brain was failing to remember anything past "Oh crap!"

I cautiously opened the apartment door and stood against the wall. Slowly I crept inside. The apartment was calm and quiet. I pulled the shades down and found my gun. I grabbed my clothes. I pulled on my skirt and shirt on in the hallway. Away from any place that had a window. My chucks were next to the front door. I laced them up quickly. I knew that If anyone was in the building, they would be either in the hallway or downstairs in the office. I checked my Sig for bullets, and put another clip in my bag. My Kevlar vest was in Vinnie's office. Vinnie. Where was he? Dead? He had to have heard shots. Maybe he had already called 911. My phone was still on the roof. I opened the door and slowly stepped out into the stairwell. My gun was drawn and my finger was slightly away from the trigger. The stairway was empty. I put my back to the wall and stepped down, making sure I could see below and above. I checked Vinnie's office first, it was empty. I put the vest over my shirt. I wondered why they didn't make body suits with this stuff for these situations. Oh, wait. Most people were not in these situations. I looked around.

The front office looked bad. Cabinets knocked over, the computer broken on the floor, files dumped. The front door was leaning askew. It had been kicked in. The whole office had been destroyed as if someone were searching for something.

I didn't see any signs of blood, drag marks, or bullet holes in the main office. Maybe Vinnie got away. I was hoping he went to the house. I picked up the phone in his office. It was dead. Not good. I picked up the keys for the Jeep and crept out the door, staying as close to the building as possible. It was parked in the back of the office. Only twenty clicks from the back door. The back of the office had a thin alley, with a washed out black top surface and a gutter through the middle. It faced the back of neighboring businesses, with large dumpsters every fifty feet. I looked closely at the rooftops and trash dumpsters. This would be where most shooters would hide. I searched for movement, but I didn't see anything. As I palmed the key to the Jeep, I promised myself that I would get a car with auto locks next time. I ran for it and jumped in. A bullet hit one of the headlights, as I tore out of the parking lot. I screamed like a little girl. The Jeep was my baby. It had survived "Me" for almost a year; I had begun to get attached. I truly hoped Vinnie was at the house. I couldn't think of a good explanation to give the Plum side of the family if I lost him.

I drove through town at breakneck Jeep speed, which is close to about sixty. I took Camelback to Sixty-Eighth, and jumped the curb getting into the driveway. I wanted cover, so I hit the garage door opener and found myself staring at Joyce Barnhardt's fricken' Hummer. Son of a bitch. I did some deep breathing to stop from freaking out. I jumped out of the truck and headed for the garage, accidentally on purpose keying her truck as I ran by. I hit the button to close the garage behind me, and raced into house. I stopped short. I came in at the wrong moment. Joyce was on another of my tables, this time doing the nasty with my cousin. I gagged.

I was married for about 8 months to a cheating dog turd lawyer named Dickie Orr. I decided I wanted a divorce after finding the one and only Joyce Barnhardt, (my nemesis), on the kitchen table with Dickie. He was barking like a dog. Joyce and I have never been friends. She humiliated me constantly all though school, and again with my husband. She tries to be a bounty hunter sometimes, and gets her kicks from doing lewd sexual acts with animals. That's the the rumor at least.

This must be one of those animals, and one of those times. I was horrified. I just stood there, mouth open. Waiting patiently for my brain to catch up with my eyeballs. I was unable to process the scene in front of me. Joyce turned and saw me and smiled.

"Jesus Christ, Stephanie! Go away! Can't you see we are a little busy here?" Joyce was completely nude and humping away on top of my cousin. Vinnie was under her, leaning back and moaning. I started having visions of the last time this happened. I felt my blood pressure rise, my cheeks flush. "Geez." She said to Vinnie, who was clearly not even aware of the problem, and still moaning like a sick dog. "You would think she would have grown some manners already!"

Vinnie was trying not to pay attention. He turned his head and saw me standing there. His eyes got wide. "Oh Shit." He said, Then he closed his eyes again, trying to concentrate in the task at hand. His first priority was getting his rocks off, no matter who came in the door.

Joyce laughed. "Look. Stephanie is having flashbacks, what a loser!"

That was It. I snapped back from stupifed. It was possible I was holding on to a bit of anger from when this happened before. All I could see was red. She was going down. I pulled her naked, sweaty body off Vinnie by her hair with such force, Vinnie squealed. Yuck. He actually squealed! If I live a million years; I never wanted to hear my cousin squeal.

"What the hell!" Joyce screamed. "You bitch! Let me go, you fuckin' cunt!"

That was all she had to say. I tore her hair extensions out of her scalp as she fell to the floor, and I punched her in the face with all my might. She was out cold. I went for her again, wanting to get a few good kicks in while she was down, but someone pulled me off. I was rabid, freaking out. Arms flailing, trying to get back to the deconstruction of Joyce. I had no idea who had the balls to grab me, but I kicked them hard from behind, just as Kyle had taught me. I heard a grunt, and a ohff" then they were down too. I turned to find Tank, down on one knee, holding himself. Trying not to throw-up. I just stood there stunned into silence. I had no idea what to say. Vinnie was still on the table, taking deep breaths. He was trying to get up to get some clothes so his little thing wasn't exposed to my wrath. There was only so much adrenaline a girl could hold onto. My brain kicked back in as I stood there. I tried to help Tank up.

"I am so sorry". I moved a chair over so he could sit down. His face was purple, his eyes were watering. I sat down next to him. I was so surprised to see him I didn't know what to do, or what to think.

I found an ice pack for Tank. His color was more bright red than purple now. Vinnie was at the table ogling Joyce's naked body. I hadn't bothered to cover her up yet, so I found a dirty towel and threw it over her just so Vinnie would stop. I stood with my back to the corner of the room, mostly to assess the damage I caused, but also so no one would shoot at me again.

I cleared my throat in trying to find my voice. "Vinnie, what the hell happened? You were supposed to be at the office, working. It was my day off, remember? "

He just stared at me like he had seen me for the first time. "I left for an early lunch. I yelled up to you to keep an eye on everything. I was taking a nooner, for Christ's sake. I thought you heard me. What's the big friggin' deal? No one had come in all day, the place was a ghost town. You came in here like a wild woman."

I suppose my ear-buds could be to blame for that. I had them turned up a few notches above blow my eardrums out. I pointed to the creature that had passed out on the floor.

"What the hell is Joyce doing in Scottsdale?"

"Joyce Lives in Scottsdale, Stephanie. She has lived out here for almost a year and a half. I knew you'd be pissed, so I was being careful. So what? Sue me. I was having a good time."

The thought of Joyce being in Scottsdale before we even came out here was incredible. How did I miss that? She has bright red hair, she's an eyesore! I never even suspected she was here. No prickly arm hairs, no squishy stomach, no feelings of dread. I had been out, around Scottsdale; never did I think I may have seen anyone that looked like her. It had just slipped by me. How was that possible? Was I walking around with blinders on?

Vinnie interrupted my thoughts. "Are you going to tell me why you ruined my nooner here? What was so fricken' important that you freaked out like a little girl on us? Who's watching the office? I hope you locked up!"

My eyes narrowed and my face felt hot. I'm Italian, mostly. I got angry fast. I balled up my fists. I wanted to cream him into juice. I tried to be a little rational. I already made two grown people fall down today.

"Don't think for a minute, Vinnie that I would have been ok with Joyce Fucken' Barnhardt being here!" I tried to lower my voice, but It kept cracking and turning up a notch as I spoke, until I was screaming. "You knew she was in Scottsdale. This was planned! You know how I feel. You were hiding her, you little duck fucker. I was on the roof, thinking you were working. Someone starts shooting at me. They ransack the office. I had no idea where you were. I was _worried_ about you. I was actually hoping no one kidnapped you again! To make it that much worse, I walk in and find Joyce screwing you on my table!"

Vinnie's mouth dropped "Shit! This only happens when you're around, Stephanie. The office was ransacked? You left it? Did you even bother to call 911? This is your Fault, it's always your fault. I can't believe this!"

"My Fault!? Don't even go there, Vinnie."

"It always happens to you Stephanie, and now…."

Vinnie Stopped. He saw my eyes turn to fire. He took a deep breath.

"Whatever, Stephanie".

I hated "Whatever" remarks. They were ok when I used them, but they really hit a nerve coming from someone else.

"So let me get this straight. I leave for two seconds, and someone is shooting up the place and trashing the office? I can't leave you alone and go out for a nooner, for crying out loud. What did they take? Did you call the Police? Is the office locked? You know someone else will go in there and start shopping."

I couldn't believe it. He was turning this around, I really thought it was all behind me. This was not my fault. I took a deep breath and tried to be rational.

"I thought I was going to die. I grabbed the vest; I took the Jeep. I came here, to find you doing a goat and pony show with Joyce."

I looked over at Tank.

"And you? What are you doing here?"

Tank is not a man of many words, especially when he has been kicked hard in the nads.

"You're going to have to ask Ranger, I am just a messenger."

"Great, ok, Sure." This was unbelievable. It had almost been a year. A year. I could have been proud of a year! I was thinking of ordering a cake. Now, No cake. No nothing. How had I missed the Joyce and Vinnie show for this long? I had felt like I had finally proven that I didn't need protecting. Then in ONE day, boom. Everyone and everything that I thought was put on a shelf came rolling back into my life.

"I hate to ask, but can someone get me some more ice?" Tank pleaded. "I think I may have broken something here." Vinnie and I looked over at Tank. He looked swollen. Tank was in a lot of pain.

We piled into Joyce's Hummer and took him to the hospital, leaving Joyce still sleeping it off on the kitchen floor. I called Ranger from Vinnie's phone and left a message about what happened. It was short and not very sweet. More or less I said, " We are taking Tank to the hospital. I kicked him."

Why was Tank here? I had a bad feeling about all of this. I dropped Vinnie off with Tank at the hospital. I thought it only polite that I bring Joyce her truck back. When I got to the house, she was up sitting on a stool with ice on her eye where I hit her. I walked in cautiously.

She glanced at me with her one good eye. "Sheesh. You got a great right hand. You knocked me flat with one punch."

"You called me a cunt. I can't be responsible for what happens after a remark like that."

"You know, Stephanie. I did sleep with Dickie because I hated you. But I actually am sorry about it."

"I'm not." I said. I'm glad that you did. I would have been miserable with him, you actually did me a favor.

She took her keys and left.

Vinnie called to let me know that Tank would be OK. "He just needs to stay away from people who kick him in the nuts for a while." He said.

A taxi dropped Tank and Vinnie off at the house. Tank limped in, looked at me and smiled. "Damn,girl. You have been practicing." He shook his head. "I can't believe you tagged me. I should have been more careful. It has been a while since I was around you."

"Where did Joyce go?" Vinnie said, looking around. "Did you kill her?"

The thought had run through my mind on several occasions. I was thinking Joyce and I had come to a bit of an understanding. I think I had made my peace with that monster.

"She said she had to get back home, but that she would call you later with" instructions".

I watched Vinnie's eyes when I said that. They sparkled. I think he even started to sweat. I didn't want to know. I never wanted to know. The vision of the two of them together on the table will forever be in my head. That was enough for me.

Tank sat at the kitchen table, still trying to get comfortable in his pants. He had a bottle of inflammatory pills and some pain killers. Poor Tank. I was back to ruining Rangers men. "I am really sorry about the kick thing. Not a good idea to get behind a girl when she is punching the shit out of someone she hates."

"I'll remember that. Ranger sent me here to pick you up. He asked me to give you these." Tank stood up, and took an envelope out of his back pocket. "He said that things were starting to happen, and it wasn't safe in Scottsdale anymore. "

Anymore? I didn't know I was in Scottsdale to be safe.

"We are supposed to be on the 7pm flight outta here."

I looked in the envelope, two tickets to fly to New Mexico. "What is in New Mexico?"

Tank took a deep breath and blew it out. " Look. I know he didn't ask you before hand, but I would really appreciate it if you just come with me, so I don't have to go limping back without you. Think of it as a favor to me." He smiled. Kind of a little annoyed smile, but there it was.

With people trying to shoot at me again, and Vinnie being out here with Joyce, I didn't see why I shouldn't take off. Maybe when I get back, Vinnie will have come to his senses.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We boarded a baby airplane. To say it was small was a gross understatement. I had to duck to get in. I'm five foot seven. Clearly, not a giant. My heart was beating loud in my chest. The plane had four seats. Four! Room for the pilot, and three passengers. No co-pilot, no peanuts. Tank sat in the seat next to the pilot, mostly because he couldn't squeeze into one of the back seats. He is a big boy. Tank was all muscle. He was a six foot one solid black man. All buzz cut and biceps from what I could see. Tank made Ranger look like a featherweight. On the way to the Phoenix Airport, I had tried without success to get information about this "You're not safe" baloney. It was like talking to a wall. Once, he looked over at me and said "Do you have any Aspirins?" That was it. As if he never heard me. The baby plane took off. I white knuckled the chairs armrests. The plane shook and jolted and tipped a few times as it gained speed and momentum.

"I thought Ranger liked you." I said. "Why would he risk you flying with me on this plane?"

I don't think it had crossed his mind, his face flushed a little. I had successfully stressed out a man who I thought was a rock.

I tried again, with another approach. Hoping the fear of dying out here in the middle of BFE would make him talk. Tank has worked for Ranger since I started on this adventure of bonds enforcement. He rarely ever spoke. When he did it was in one word sentences. Like, "No." or "Yes." Or his other large sentence. "Yes ma'am." and "Yes Sir." Or always my favorite "Run!"

His real name was not "Tank". His mother would not have been that cruel, but she was cruel as far as he was concerned. His name was Pierre. To him, it was a lot worse than Tank. I think Pierre is a family name. He is from the French Quarter in Louisiana. If I ever call him Pierre, he would never speak to me again.

Lula hooked up with Tank last year. The last I heard, Lula was going to meet his mother. What happened at that meeting got sort of lost in the big empty which is my life. I missed Lula. I had been so busy trying to stay away; I had lost contact with her. I asked Tank about Lula and what was going on now at the office.

Tank looked back into the tiny back seat.

"You comfortable?"

"No."

He Smiled. "Lula is great. She met my mother, and didn't run. That's something."

That had me curious. "Why would she run?"

"My mother is a bit of a cat person."

"She keeps cats, or, she thinks she's a cat?

"A little of both." He let out a sigh and turned towards the window.

The flight lasted a gut wrenching hour. I was pretty sure the engine had almost quit twice. I kept looking at the pilot to see if this bothered him. He seemed calm, so I tried to practice some deep breathing. I looked around for a parachute. From where I was sitting, I could see mountain ranges and desert. Not a place I want to try to land if something went wrong. I prefer the ocean; at least you have the flotation devices under your butt. I saw a parachute, and grabbed it. Pulling it to me. When the plane finally landed, I would have a firm grasp on which line to pull and when. Finally, I felt the training wheels hit ground and we landed. I did a few Hail Mary's for good measure, and finally let out a breath. This was a one-time shot, I thought. I was not about to get back into this plane for a ride home. I'd walk.

We landed at a little airstrip in Alamogordo. I noticed the air first. It was not only cooler, but thinner and I figured we must be up in the mountains of New Mexico. For my Honeymoon with Dickie Orr, we had gone to Aspen, Colorado to ski. After falling about 300 times, I had realized I needed to reconsider being an Olympic skier, and I retreated inside the lodge for lots of hot alcoholic beverages and sympathy. It was a nice honeymoon. One of the only times I had fun with that two timing jerk, Dickie. The air was similar here. The sun beat down on us, but it was more of a cool ninety instead of cooking hundred and twenty. The plane taxied over to an older Chevy Blazer. It was painted Camo-green and brown. Nothing like the black cars and trucks in Jersey.

"This yours?" I said to Tank, as we climbed inside.

"Nope, this is Ranger's truck."

"Ranger's truck? It's not black. I thought everything with Ranger was black. Where's your truck?"

I don't own a truck. I have a motorcycle. Put your seat-belt on, it's going to be a bumpy few miles."

Holy cannoli, where the heck was he taking me?

We drove through the city of Alamogordo. It was small but pretty. Lots of little businesses, shops and parks. Advertisements for RV camping and fishing tackle. Arrows pointing up roads with pictures of people skiing, others with people walking up mountains, and indicating trailheads. Most people we saw had four-wheel drive cars. Subaru wagons, old and new, Some trucks and SUV's, a few Jeeps, and some hunting trucks like we had. We drove by three gun shops, two fishing tackle shops and a Camping World. As we motored out-of-town, the trees grew closer together. We pulled off onto a dirt road that looked as if it ran straight up the side of a mountain. I adjusted my seat belt, tightening it till it was snug against me, pressing me into the seat. I held onto the sissy bar, the dash, the door, the roof. Nothing stopped me from being tossed around.

"Jesus Christ, Tank. Where the hell are we going?" I screamed, as the truck tilted completely one way, than the other. Knocking my teeth together so hard, I may have chipped one of them. The truck persistently moved up the mountain in a slow crawl. The shocks clanging up and down with each rock it had to climb. I looked over at Tank. He was smiling ear to ear. I would have tried to talk to him more, but the jarring motion of the cab, had me at silence. I tried to look around to see just where we were going. The road was shrouded with trees and brush. The air was getting cooler, it was about 85 degrees now. The forest closed in on us and for the first time, I wondered if Tank had lost his mind. I remembered the movie where the girl was buried alive, and I checked on Tank again to see if he looked like he had lost his noodle. He looked pretty solid. Happy as a clam. But solid.

We were still crawling up the mountain fifteen minutes later, and I was starting to get use to the climb. By no means was I comfortable, but I could see the top of the mountain now, and it wasn't that far off. The truck bucked down another dirt road, this one following around the top of the mountain. The road turned into a path that looked dangerously small, especially since my side of the truck bordered the cliff of the mountain. I moved closer to the inside of the cab, almost sitting on the console in the middle, as if believing that would keep me from falling out of the truck. I looked down; the tires were an inch away from the side of the cliff. An inch! Tank was still happy. So it was OK, right? If I panicked too much I would pee my pants. How would that look? I didn't want to ruin Ranger's seats. I looked again, seeing if anything would save us if the truck tipped the wrong direction. There was nothing but jagged rocks and some trees sticking out of the mountainside and a tiny little stream of water about 9000 feet below. Oh, crap. I held on tighter.

"Is this the only road up here?" I had to scream for him to hear over the trucks hardworking engine.

"No, there is a straight road in from the main highway."

"Wha..? Why are we taking this one then?"

Tank looked at me, "I thought you would like it. It's a very pretty road. The scenery is great."

The road finally turned flat and straight. I started seeing the backs of cabins, Some with cars parked on parcels of flat land and rock. We passed a few more. Each one separated by huge pine trees and about half an acre of land. We kept driving, Trees became more prevalent. Tank pulled into a rock drive that went up another small incline to a larger cabin sitting alone. There was another four wheel drive truck. We parked next to it. It was red. A ford F250 with big knobby tires. Not new, but not exactly what I would call old. The back of the cabin faced the road. I had no idea what the front of any of the cabins looked like. I was curious to find out. Light trickled out of a small window facing us. A wooden staircase with a primitive wood railing led up to a back door entrance. The cabin looked homey and inviting. Not at all a place that I thought Ranger would be.

I hesitated, and found myself thinking, my body would never be found way out here. No one knew where I was. I hadn't even told Vinnie where I was going. What if Tank freaked out, and he kidnapped me? And, Well. That is just stupid. I took a deep breath and looked down at the shoes I was wearing. Chucks. They were OK, but not all that great for climbing mountains escaping from psychos.

I looked up to see Tank watching me, almost laughing.

"Earth to Stephanie, you OK? You look scared. You aren't thinking of kicking me again, are you?"

"Me?" But my voice cracked and I gave myself away. I had been thinking about kicking him and running.

"C'mon." he said. "Let's go inside."

I checked the area, looking for an escape route. There were other cabins, clearly with people inside. Cars were parked; I could run to one of the neighboring cabins if things got weird. I followed Tank up the stairs. He opened the door to smells of good italian cooking. The intoxicating smell of Basil,Pesto,Onion,and Garlic hit me as we walked in. I instantly lost all fear for my life. Food has a way of making me feel safe. If anyone really wanted to kidnap me, they could probably lure me away with the promise of a cookie if I was hungry enough. I saw Hal, and felt better. The back door led into the kitchen, the heartbeat of any home. Steam rose from pots on the stove in front of him. He was cooking . Hal was a huge stegosaurus of a guy, but I loved him and trusted him more than all the others. I had never seen him angry; he was the linebacker on the team so to speak. He was all muscle, like tank. Just more. He saw us and smiled.

"Stephanie… Nice tan, girl. You have been living the good life."

The kitchen was slightly larger than my parents, but not huge, and not industrial like Rangeman. This was a vacation cabin. Probably used at the most, twice a year. The inside walls and cabinets were wood, the floors were tile, the counters yellow Formica. Vintage 1970's. The refrigerator and appliances were new. Everything else was outdated, but clean and well kept. There was a small table with four nondescript chairs. Plain and useful.

I gave Hal a hug. It was like hugging a bear. He walked with us into the living room. It was situated directly behind the kitchen. The room was very open and spacious, with a high ceiling and a big picturesque window overlooking a valley of trees below. Two large couches and a small wooden coffee table were placed in the center of the room facing the flat screen T.V. It was on the wall above a brick and rock fireplace that had looked well used. Next to the large window, was a long wooden dining table with eight chairs. It was set for eight. A bright white linen table cloth draped over the wood table. Plates and bowls were black and in contrast to the rest of the room. I could tell that Tank felt right at home. He walked in and dropped his gun belt on the couch, as if he had been here a million times.

Lester walked in. "Stephanie, nice to see you!" He said, coming over and giving me a hug. "I honestly thought we would never see you again. You up and left. Didn't even say goodbye." He put his hand over his heart. "I was crushed." He smooshed me against him and kissed the top of my head. "Things have been boring without you around. No one has knocked any of us over, blown up anything, or gotten shot since you left. It's been lonely."

Lester was about the same size as Hal. Just a lot more ghetto. He was clearly a jersey boy with dark hair and smokey brown eyes. He looked like he lived in the gym and picked up pianos for the fun. Lester and Hal. Go figure. They missed me. I rarely ever heard them speak. I had no idea they were this interesting.

Hal and Lester walked out the back door. "Don't you dare leave this time without a goodbye." Lester said, closing the door. Tank walked out behind them. "Ranger's upstairs in the office, Stephanie. He asked me to send you up."

I knew he was around somewhere. It was like electricity in the air. Energy you couldn't put your finger on when he was around. He still made me very nervous. Especially in a cabin in the woods, alone. Upstairs seemed sort of scary right now, so instead I went to the kitchen. Hal had everything simmering. I checked the fridge to find a big salad. I was hungry, and it looked inviting, especially if there were some croutons, and some ranch dressing. I checked for any dessert, nothing. I checked the freezer too. Damn. No dessert. I checked the fridge again, just in case I missed it. Sandwich meats, tomatoes, carrots, assorted condiments, lots of vegetables, some water. Blah. Water. There were five kinds of beers. It looked to me like no one here could decide on a common house beer. Budweiser, Coors, Dos Equis, Newcastle, and Sam Adams.

I grabbed a beer and a cherry tomato. I felt the air change in the room around me, and my heart started pounding hard in my chest. I knew Ranger was in the room. He came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. His hands were extremely warm. I put my arm on top of his. I had forgotten how much I liked being close to him. He pulled me in to him, brushed the hair away, kissing my neck. Goosebumps climbed up my arms and I think I shivered. It had been close to a year since anyone had touched me like that.

He whispered into my ear, touching my skin with his lips. "I missed you, Babe." His hands moved under my thin cotton shirt, his fingers caressing my breast. My breath caught in my throat, and I think I moaned! I turned around to face him. His eyes were dark liquid oil. I kissed him. He cupped my face and the kiss became more demanding. He took control of it and pushed me up against the refrigerator. I grabbed for his shirt in an attempt to rip it off his body, and he pulled away from me, making me let go. He held my hands so I couldn't grab him again. His eyes had turned solid black, and he was definitely trying hard to hold back. I bit my lip in anticipation.

"I want you to see something." He said.

Well. Ya. I had a few things I wanted him to see also.

He pushed me out of the kitchen. It seemed the wrong moment to give me a tour of the house. I was starving, I was in a state, and he had touched me in all the right spots. He led me upstairs, but to my dismay he wasn't trying to pull off my clothes on the way up. I had a feeling he was not going to take advantage of me. Damn!

Upstairs was still as rustic as the rest of the cabin. The stairway led up to the center of a large room. The plate-glass window down stairs was a twin to the window here. To the right was a large room and a bathroom. To the left were two smaller rooms. One was an office. Ranger led me in. An older wooden desk sat close to the wall. Three computer screens were across it, with a keyboard. On the wall, was a flat screen TV that had four screens displayed. They looked like surveillance camera images, like the ones they had at Rangeman.

He pointed to the T.V. "All four of the images are from different businesses that keep having problems with break-ins. Although they are being monitored in Jersey, I like to watch them from here". He pointed to the three computer screens on his desk. "Just like at Rangeman, I can scan, do searches and put things together from up here. I walked out of the office and looked out the plate-glass window at a valley below. There were some trails and small cabins in the distance. A beautiful view of pine trees and the rest of the forest below. I saw far below what looked like Tank, Hal and Lester jogging down one of the trails. I wondered if that was what they did for fun. I walked back into the office. I had finally gotten my blood pressure back down from Rangers attack in the kitchen. I understood the need for working, but it seemed kind of wrong to stop right in the middle of whatever that was. What was that anyway? I asked myself. I had thrown myself at him. Agh. I was such a slut. Worse, he stopped me. I stood next to him as he typed in some codes. What came up was a surprise.

Across the screen in red was the title: "Bombshell Bounty Hunter." My mouth dropped open.

Below it was an Okay picture of me, then thumbnails of videos.

"Oh, Crap!" My voice seemed far away. I almost lost my footing. My heart was beating fast. I could feel my blood pressure rise again.

"There are about 25 videos that were uploaded." Ranger said. "All from various cameras, and all done without your knowledge from the way they were filmed. Amateur movie makers who saw you, and took the opportunity to film you as you were doing your take downs." He pointed to one thumbnail closest to the bottom. "This one, this is the one that got you in trouble."

I didn't know what he meant. But I took a deep breath and watched the video.

It was Eddie's video that he shot as I was trying to get out of the devil car at the cop shop. It showed some very good footage of Paul Banton. It also shows him biting me, then doing my thing, and kicking the console and deploying the airbag. Then the film goes blank. Probably because Joe walked up. He would have killed Eddie for taping it. I thought about Joe for a second. It still hurt. At that moment when that film was made, Joe and I were still good. We were going to Pino's for Subs. We were a couple. I took a deep breath.

Ranger pulled me from my thoughts of self-pity. "Paul Banton has a notorious past. His real name is Frederick "The Weasel" Conamelli. He was in a witness protection program until about two years ago, when he decided he was sick of hiding, and he made a life for himself. He had some inside information about the ponies at the track, and all the Mafia dealings around it. The boys didn't exactly want him talking, but they couldn't find him. Either could the FBI. It was a big problem. Both interested parties had lost track. When this video came out, He was whisked away by federal agents. They were happy they had picked him back up again; But Fred didn't want to be caged. He took off again; unfortunately for Frederick everyone knew where he was. They found him about eight months ago in a cargo trailer. Apparently, you are now linked to him.

"What?!" I sat down. Paying slightly more attention than I had been before.

Ranger must have seen the look of scared shitless on my face. We both knew the last thing you ever want to do is piss off the fricken Mob.

"I don't know why or how." He said. "It started with the video. Paul Banter started the ball rolling. He was pissed about being found. So he put a hit out on you. He did it immediately. Apparently the Weasel has a bad temper. I am lost as to why the hit is still out there. Contracts are severed once someone dies. It's obvious as to why, no one gets paid. Apparently there is something we are missing. Maybe the Mafia wants you too."

Ranger leaned back in his chair. I slumped in mine. The only thing we can figure is that they may think you have the information that Paul had." Ranger said. "Not a lot of people get an open season contract. You must be special."

I needed cake. Not just a piece of cake, but an entire cake. A Big happy birthday balloon cake with flowers and smiling sunshine, cake.

Ranger was silent. "Your thinking about cake, aren't you?" He pulled me onto his lap and held onto me. Babe. We have no cake here, but I know a few really good tricks that would make you feel just as good as cake does."

Was that possible? Not a lot of things are better than cake. Although I really didn't want to know the answer, I went ahead and asked the next obvious question. "What is an open season contract?"

Ranger took a deep breath."It means just that. "Open Season." The contract goes to whomever kills you first. It doesn't matter who does it, they just want you gone. It is the cheapest way to do a kill contract. A lot of amateurs will pick it up at a chance to not only get some cash, but bagging "The Bombshell Bounty Hunter" comes with some respect attached to it. It is a prize. It all has to do with the website. You are a celebrity."

I got up and walked across the room to the window. Looking down at the ground below me, felt like I was falling. Ranger handed me a bunch of 8 x 10 pictures. All were grainy. He pointed to one of them.

"The car that was in front of you that day in New Jersey. The one that flipped over. They were amateur hitters. They were a Ma and Pa outfit. They had the shooter in the backseat. Why they needed a third man is a mystery we will probably never solve. You had two sets of eyes on you that day. A sniper on the roof of the meat market and the little old woman and man whose car flipped over. I think the sniper saw the guy in front of you, and knew what they were about to do, so instead of letting them do the deed, he shot the guy."

I had a Picture in front of me of a car flipped over; there was a body bag next to the car. The next picture was mug shots of the two in the car. I recognized them. They were the ones I asked about the shooting and asked if they were OK. I couldn't believe they were involved in trying to kill me. They seemed like such a nice couple. The next picture was a mug shot of Frederick the Weasel. It was taken about the same time as my apprehension picture was. The next was of a mug shot and a death picture of the shooter in the back seat of the car. His name was Leo Farnsworth. I had only seen him dead, but it looked like the same guy. The last one was of Tony "the Tool". At least that was the label on the picture. His real name was Anthony Barrella. The man Connie had talked about.

"Farnsworth was shot through the forehead, as he discharged his weapon. Farnsworth's shot went wild and killed your window instead of you. The lone sniper, we think was Barrella. Better known as "The Tool", tried to slow you down and shot your wheel off your car, then shot the old man in the passenger seat of the car in the arm."

My mouth was dry, I couldn't swallow. What was it that they thought I had? Was I really so terrible to Paul Banter that he put out a hit on me? That seemed a little over the top. It wasn't my fault about the camera on Fred or Paul or whatever his name was. He didn't tell me who he was, and he didn't give me anything ! I had nothing. Why would there be a hit to be out on me?

I sat down in the chair next to him. Not sure what I should do. I pulled my legs up to my chest, and bit my lip.

"It gets worse." he said. Turning his chair towards me. We found out who put up the website. You are not going to be very happy about it."

I stared at him. The wheels of my brain were picking up speed. Who would benefit from me getting web time?

"Vinnie". I said. Not believing it, but saying it anyway.

"Actually," Ranger said. "Vinnie and Joyce set it up. She started it as a joke. Then, when It went viral she told Vinnie about it. They have been collecting a dollar a download ever since."

My face started to burn. Joyce. Not only Joyce, but Vinnie! My Rat faced, turd, dog scum cousin. Vinnie needed a way out of the hole he was in. He used the money he got from me to come out to Scottsdale, and see Joyce and to start a new business. I followed along. Feeling sad and forlorn and desperate. He probably thought he could do a Scottsdale edition. I had wondered how he had gotten the money together to do bigger bonds.

I could feel my blood boil. I had been NICE to him.

"The FBI found out a few days ago that the original footage might be in the Scottsdale office. They have been under a lot of pressure lately to get the original footage, That's what I'm hearing at least. They would look pretty bad if it leaked out that the witness protection program had some flaws."

This was a lot for me to deal with. I needed a drink, I needed cake, and I needed Vinnie's head on a stick. I was going to wring his scrawny little neck. This was his fault. Not mine. Joyce and Vinnie were dead meat.

Ranger was silent as he watched me pace the floor. "Where are you at right now, Babe?" Ranger said

I was staring out the window, plotting revenge. Thinking about how Vinnie played me. How did I not see this? I have internet. How could I have missed it? It was so obvious. What about this Tool guy? Was he out in Jersey to kill me? I needed to talk to Connie. Maybe she could get me out of this contract thing. I was angry, confused and hurt. I felt like I had been gullible. That was the worst. I hugged myself. I felt sick. All this was too much. I just felt so alone. This was it. I was going to fall off this cliff that was my life. I didn't have whatever it was they thought I had. People were looking for me; just to randomly kill me because they could. They didn't even know me. It wasn't personal, it was for money, and kicks. I stared out the window at the setting sun. I was tired and I was sad. Because of Joyce, Vincent, and Eddie my life with Joe was over. It may have ended anyway, but it would have been on our own terms, not because of their sick twisted little joke website.

Ranger came up behind me and looked out the window. "Stephanie, just so you know. I found out about this yesterday. I had no idea."

I looked at him reflected in the glass of the window; He was standing with his arms folded in front of him. He was watching me, as I was watching him. He looked thinner than he had been a year ago, like maybe he had just come back from another mission and he had not gotten back to himself yet.

"How long have you been back?"

He glanced at me, looking a little surprised. "How did you know?"

I shrugged. It was just a feeling.

"I got back from the second half about a week ago. I was gone for four months. It was grueling and it felt wrong. I am not sure if I will take another assignment when it comes back up."

"Why do you go at all?"

He just kept staring out the window."Because I am good at it."

I watched Tank and the others as they headed up to the cabin. Ranger took a small remote and pressed a button and the shades on the window went down. His eyes cut to mine as the window shut off the glow of the sunset.

"Stephanie, just so you know. This is the Bat Cave."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

That little sentence, made everything else lose perspective in my brain. Connie, Lula and I joked about the bat cave. Hinted that Ranger must have a place he actually called home. Once, he went as far as saying "Once you go into the bat cave, there's no turning back, It's forever. " Not that I took everything he said as truth, Ranger has a dark sense of humor.

The seventh floor apartment at RangeMan was impersonal. There was nothing tangible that said who he was. I had spent time there on more than one occasion when he was kind enough to let me hide from some pretty scary people. It was cold and businesslike. Not that it wasn't nice. I loved Ranger's apartment. It was always clean, smelled great and he had Ella. I would call her a housekeeper, but she was more than that. She also made him food and took care of the other people he employed. Her husband took care of the building, she took care of Ranger. She made his life easy in Jersey. He always had clean clothes, his bed was always made, and she put Bvlgari green shower gel in his shower. If I could afford that kind of luxury, I would be a happy person. I have asked her about him, I don't think she knows anymore than I do, and she washes his clothes. He doesn't give an inch about his personal life. And here I am, probably standing right in the middle of it.

Ranger gave me a quick glance, and actually smiled. "I think you need to make an appearance downstairs. I run a tight ship when were working, but up here, it's different."

I had no idea what the rest of this night would bring. I only knew that this was a lot more than I had ever expected to happen when I woke up this morning. I followed Mr. Carlos Manoso, AKA Ranger, AKA Who the Hell is this? downstairs.

When Ranger walks into a room at RangeMan, people shut up. There is silence, and serious "man" things going on. But when he came downstairs here, no one even noticed him. He blended in like a chameleon. I walked in behind him, and into a bunch of guys, big guys. Doing kitchen duty. Cleaning up & setting food out. Basketball was on the flat screen. It was a strange emotional moment for me. So much had changed in the last twelve months, And now this. I was in the inner circle of Rangers life. Ranger. Not Joe. Ranger. If I could go back a year, and tell myself this is what my life would be like in twelve months, I think I would have checked myself into a looney bin. Ranger went into the kitchen and poured us both a glass of wine, I took the bottle with us, I thought I might need it. And I followed him outside to a balcony that overlooked the entire canyon below.

" So," I began, not exactly sure where to start. "When did you decide to become a mountain man? I leave for less than a year, and now you live in New Mexico?" I took another drink of my wine, and found the glass was already empty, so I poured another.

"My father bought this cabin after coming back from Vietnam." Ranger leaned against the railing. " It was his place to get away. My mother gave it to me when I enlisted in the service. Over the years I bought the land surrounding it. Sometimes I come up here to get away, to take a deep breath, and get back to normal. Especially if I come back from a job that is bad. I come here to chill before going home. When I found out about the website, and what was happening we were already here. Some fucked up shit went down, and you can't just throw yourself back into real life, you have to ease back in, or it will ruin you. We were close to Arizona, so I had Tank go get you."

"So why haven't you ever mentioned this place before?"

He took a drink of wine. "Because, it was none of your business."

"And now it is?"

His eyes glanced momentarily at me, and then over at the canyon below. "Maybe."

He turned towards me, watching me as he spoke. His eyes reflected the moon behind me, giving them an eerie glow. "This is my personal space, Stephanie. Maybe the only place I really have that is close to a home. This is where _I_ am. I share this place only with the people I care for and trust the most."

"So now you trust me, and you care about me?" I knew he was letting me in, and I was teetering on buzzed. I put the glass of wine down, mostly because it was empty again. Also because I was flirting with someone I put in the "fun but dangerous" category. Damn.

He Laughed. "Just hear me out. You wanted to know who I was. Well.. this is as close to reality as you are going to get. There's no room service here. Just usually me, myself, and I. At the office in Jersey, I don't have time for all that domestic shit. Up here, it's very different. I bring close friends up here. That would include Tank, Hal, Lester and Ramon. They are the people who have my back, and not because I pay them. They have been my friends since I joined the Army. Every year, for about a month, we come up here to shake demons out of our heads. We've seen too much, and this is where we can get a grip on what is important. It's more efficient than putting our head-trips on another person's conscience."

I knew that was a rip on Joe, and I knew that they both had demons; I guess they deal with it a lot differently.

He leaned farther over the railing and pointed down the canyon. "Down below there are three cabins. Tank has his own, Hal and Lester have theirs. When Ramon comes up with us, he has to bunk at the main house, or with the boys below. This time, he is staying down with Tank. I don't intrude on them. They don't intrude on me. They come up here when they need to, just like I do."

I watched him as he spoke. Ranger is not someone who talks. I enjoyed hearing him; it was nice to get to know this man. He was so much more than he let on. My eyes caught something moving in the brush, a coyote ran below us, searching for food or just checking on his perimeters. I watched as it ran through the route Tank had been on earlier. Sniffing the ground, checking out rabbit holes, stopping and standing very still as he listened to the noises of the night. The wind moved up the canyon and the coyote moved away, parting the brush to go into the trees. It was peaceful here. I could see how this place was good for his soul. Ranger stood behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, He kissed the back of my neck, nuzzling gently into my hair.

"Let's go eat. Everything is going to get cold if we don't get in there, and grab it quick".

Perfect. A man after my own heart. That's more like it.

Sitting down at a dinner table with Rangers men is a real experience. They really wanted me to feel at home. I don't think that they are used to setting the table and getting things together like this. It was more of an "eat with your fingers and wipe your mouth with your shirt" kind of place. It wasn't my mother's table, but I thought it was wonderful. I miss my family and my Sunday dinners with my mom and dad more than I knew I did. There was something to be said about sitting down together and eating a meal that made you really feel like a family. This was Ranger's family, and he included me. After all that had happened, it was just what I needed to get me back to myself. Maybe that is a little of what he meant about being here. Who knows? I just knew that for now, I felt at home for the first time since I left Trenton.

As we ate I asked about the picture Kyle had on his wall. "Kyle was our team leader." Tank said. "Ranger was second in command. All of us worked together so well, that we kept the team together after our tours were finished. Kyle went home. He had his own life he wanted to get back to. We had been taught a certain set of skills that weren't not exactly in high demand. It was a joint decision to stay together and work. Now we have Rangeman."

I sat there silently. Letting them talk, telling stories about different things that had happened. I didn't know any of these guys even spoke, and here they were forming complete sentences. I was flabbergasted. I poured more wine, but the bottle was empty, and I was getting the spins. I retreated to the couch. I was feeling slightly dizzy. I sat on the couch between Hal and Lester. Ranger was at the table, going over paperwork. I thought this night really couldn't get any better. I leaned over to Hal, and put my head on his shoulder "You guys are so great" and I fell off the couch. I just could not see why anyone needed more than 2 glasses of wine. Ranger walked over and picked me up.

"Are you okay?"

"Well of course I was ok! Sheesh! Can't someone accidentally fall off the couch?"

I think after that, I may have lasted another twenty minutes before I passed out on Tanks shoulder. I wonder If I drooled a little. That would have been so embarrassing!

I woke up completely disoriented. Where the hell was I now? I tried to focus on my surroundings. I was in a large room with white walls and dark floors. I was in a bed that was very big and very .wow.. I could get use to this.. Where was I? I was in a room, but not what appeared to be a guest room. This room had personal stuff. There were pictures on a dresser and a nightstand with more. My head was pounding. What happened last night? I focused on a large painting was on the opposite wall. It was an Asian painting of a forest. It instilled a sense of calm. This forest was a safe place. Suddenly I realized there was someone sleeping next to me, an arm was wrapped around me protectively. Ranger. I was in his bed. His _real_ bed. Not the one at RangeMan. Omigod. This was the real thing. I was kind of scared. Ranger was a tough cookie.

Stephanie, what the hell are you getting yourself into? I had moved from completely staying away from men, to jumping into the lion's den. Oh crap. Ranger was scary sexually, scary mentally, and scary, as in if I let him in any farther than I have already;I will fall head over heels for him. I was terrified he would break my heart. He was awake and pulled me closer to him. He was warm next to me, and he felt good. He kissed my neck and his hand casually slid under my shirt. My heart was pounding in my chest. My mind was half in panic, and half in oh, that feels really good mode. My body wasn't listening to the panic part, and responded to his touch by pressing in closer to him. He pulled me on top of him, and slid off my shirt, rubbing my nipples with his fingers. It felt so good, I forgot to say no. I looked into his eyes. They were deep pools of liquid brown. He gently brought his lips to mine, kissing me so softly that I wondered why I would have ever wanted to say no to begin with? He kissed me again, it was more demanding. His hands expertly pulling at my clothes. The kiss turned ravenous and he pulled me down on the bed and slid deep into me. His eyes holding mine as we moved together, my hips rolling with his, slowly at first then gaining speed until his body shuttered and released inside me, as he whispered my name and kissed me passionately. He moved his mouth down my body, kissing my shoulder, then the soft skin around my nipple, his tongue sliding down my stomach finding my, OMIGOD ! Yes! Making me a very happy girl. I had dreams when I was young, when fantasy was still an option. I never had anything this real. How could I have ever been afraid of this man?

It was Ten am.

Ranger was still sleeping next to me. I am caught in plenty of situations that have me in the same bed with Ranger, but I have never been with him when he actually sleeps in. I really needed fries and a Coke. It was my hangover quick fix. Without them, the day could be ruined. I had no idea how far away fries and a Coke would be from this place, but I had a feeling it was really far. I needed to call Lula and have her pick me up. Problem was, She was about eight thousand miles away. I let out a groan. But before I could roll out of Rangers nice soft comfy bed, he pulled me back down.

"Where do you think you're going?" He said, rolling in top of me, keeping me prisoner. "There are no fast food places out here, and I know you are not going out for a run."

I really did need fries and that Coke, but Ranger's bed was warm, Ranger was warm, and I was getting warmer by the minute. It did not take him long to have me thinking that fries and a Coke could wait.

Noon was fast approaching. We took a shower, still not ready to let go of what we had just shared. I was still wondering when I would wake up from this strange, erotic dream that I walked into. I mean, Ranger? For Real? Batcave? Could this really be happening? I wrapped a towel around myself and looked in the bathroom mirror. My reality hadn't changed. This wasn't a dream. I needed to face my life.

"I think that I need to figure out what to do about the contract out on me."I said. "Maybe try to defuse the situation before I become road kill."

Ranger was already getting dressed. He was going casual. Jeans, a black t-shirt, commando. Nice.

"Jersey sent out an email to us last night." He said. "You are not going to like it, either. I have a meeting set up for Rangeman, so we can get our ducks in a row. I scheduled a conference with the Trenton P.D. Homicide table later, and their Mafia task force. Things should move pretty quickly after that."

I started pulling on my clothes. Thinking of how much Ranger had done for me over the last few years. "I never said thank you for helping with all of this. I said. "I don't know what to say. I left Jersey so I could figure out what I wanted, and try to change things, and I ended up still needing help. I feel strange about you getting involved in my problems, but I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't."

"I'll have to think about the thanking part. I'm sure you could think of something." Ranger smiled as he laced up his boots. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. "I already know what you would have done if i wasn't around, and it probably wouldn't have been the wrong approach, but a more dangerous one. You would have gone directly to the source; Connie. And between Lula and yourself, you would have set up a meeting with some cousin of hers to discuss what they wanted, so you could stay alive."

That sounded like a pretty good plan to me. I knew Connie would have some way to get a meeting set up. Ranger was good. I was still working on that one in my brain. I wonder if I talk in my sleep. If I did, what the hell else do I say?

"Not a bad plan." Ranger said. "But mine is a little safer."

He reached up and swept a curl off my face and tucked it behind my ear affectionately. "You don't have to thank me for helping you, I love you. Don't think I'm not doing this for my own personal gain. I'm just not sure how to feel about it, so I'm dropping it."

Oh, OK. Hello. What? My brain was changing course; brakes were squealing, engines coming to a halt. I bit my lip hard. His personal gain? What did that mean, exactly? I knew he loved me, but it always was in a sweet noncommittal way. Ranger was the lone wolf. He expressed that to me on many occasions just how lone he was and that in no way could he ever be more. So what kind of a statement was that? I needed to know, because what if something terrible happened? What if one of us fell off a cliff or something? I would never know. It would forever be the unanswered question.

"No, that's not OK." I said. "You can't lay out a sentence like that on me, and expect me to just drop it. I'm not you; I can't just walk away from a statement like that."

He looked at me for a long moment, Then put on his SEALS cap. "It means, I missed you more than I thought I would. It's a problem. I am not sure what to do about it."

Don't fall for it, Stephanie Plum. My mind raced to the rescue. Just be cool. He is probably just elated from morning sex. Be calm.

He was still talking "After the meeting, we will know more."

I'd hoped I hadn't missed anything while my brain jumped out of my skull for a moment to regroup.

"Stephanie, let me lead when they start asking questions. He said. "I need to be in control of this bullshit before it blows up in your face. We need to have cooperation from Trenton to get anything accomplished. I need you to be on my side."

Usually, that kind of comment would start an argument, but I thought for this, I would be happy to let someone take over. This was way over my head.

He kissed me and let me go. "Let's get this stupid shit over with."

There were apples and oranges in a bowl on the table. I was starving. I went in the kitchen and searched the refrigerator of something edible. I opted for a bagel with cream cheese and coffee. How was I supposed to wake up without sugar? I dumped two more spoonfuls of sugar in my coffee and knocked down five aspirin in an attempt to stop my head from exploding. I picked up the bagel and nibbled on it trying to pretend it was something with sprinkles on it. Tank and the rest of the crew all ambled in after a few minutes. All looked fresh from being up for hours doing sit ups or whatever it was they did for fun.

We all took our seats at the table. Tank was across from me, Hal and Ramon on each side of me, Lester next to Ranger who sat at the head of the table.

"This is what we know." Ranger Began. "Which is still not very much. Paul Banter, aka "Frederick the Weasel" put out a hit on you for something you did to piss him off. The Mafia now wants you also. The first one is pretty bad. But the Mob is worse. Trenton P.D. and Scottsdale P.D need you to give your statements about the shootings. The FBI is also on the list of people who want to have a conference. From what I am getting from the street is that it is all about a missing hard drive. The FBI wants it and the Mob wants it. Apparently the reason Fred wanted you dead was because he said you stole it."

"I would never have taken anything from that jerk. He bit me. You know that? Why would I take anything from him?"

Actually, I believe most of North America knew he bit me if the numbers were correct on Joyce's stupid website.

"Well," Ranger said. "Fred must have convinced the Mob that you had it, even though it didn't save his life. He was found dead in Long Island a month ago."

I put my head down on the table, and tried to get a grip.

"It was never confirmed that Tony "The Tool" Potrovski was the sniper. We do know he was in Trenton, and there's no proof he ever left. This could be a real problem if you go back."

"If there was a hit out on me, why didn't they just come out to Scottsdale and shoot me? I wasn't exactly hiding."

"That's something that I would like to know." Ranger said. "Maybe, "The Weasel's" contract was only a local thing. The Mafia wasn't looking for you until recently. As for the FBI, I am still thinking that shooting at the office was a way to search the place without interruptions. I don't think the intention was to hit you, just scare you. Probably looking for the drive or the tape, who knows? I think they were unofficially looking, or they would have had a search warrant. Probably this is an embarrassment to the department."

Well, they did a good job, I was definitely scared. I was getting nervous, my leg started shaking. I hoped no one noticed.

"So what does this mean?" I said. Was I supposed to be afraid of people taking pot-shots at me forever? I couldn't go back home? Would I ever feel safe anywhere? I felt safe in Scottsdale, until yesterday. I wanted that back. I had successfully reinvented myself out there. I could feel all the color was draining out of my face. My brain was spinning in a million different directions. Up until now, I had things like food and great sex to take my mind off all this. Now, reality was staring me in the face. This was a serious problem, And not to want to dwell on it too much, but what if I did start really falling for Ranger? Geez.

"I am not sure what it means yet." Ranger said, drawing me back in. "It's better if we get the facts from Trenton, before we can actively discuss what we need to do next. Joe Morelli will be on video conference with us in about ten minutes. He chose to help us figure things out. Everyone wants you to come out of this alive."

Joe? I think I was going to be sick. Not only was I afraid, but now I had to see Joe Morelli and deal with those feelings again, too. I tried to breathe. Inhale, exhale. I was suddenly tired. I really just wanted to go back up stairs and wake up from this dream that had become a really bad nightmare.

I decided to let Ranger take this one. I think this was way too big for me to handle on my own. I needed his protection, unless I wanted to live on the Moon. Jesus Christ, all I did was pick up a skip. If it wasn't for Eddie, things would be different. I stopped in mid thought. No, this was my fault. I was not being professional. I had a car that was all fucked up. This was my fault. Period.

The reason people were afraid for me was because I wasn't taking my job seriously. I wasn't that good at it. I kept thinking it was temporary. When we moved to Scottsdale, I did learn my job, and I got a car that was dependable and not all screwed up. I was professional, (except on my days off.) Plus, I never got on video! This was definitely my fault.

I had blanked out, talking to myself. Ranger was still talking. "For now, If you leave the valley wear your vests." Ranger looked my direction. "No one here wants to lose you, especially me."

Especially me? My jaw dropped. He said that in front of everyone. I can't think about that right now! He's messing with me, i know it. And If I am really on a Mafia hit list, what were the odds I would live? Probably slim to none. I needed someone solid. I didn't know if I could get a pretend "It is going to be OK" from Ranger right now. I hadn't asked the most obvious question of all.

"You can call off a hit, and talk to the mafia guys, tell them I don't have what they want, right?" Tank was a rock. I directed the question at him. But Ranger answered

"I don't know, Stephanie. That is what we are hoping."

I looked at Ranger, hoping for strength to ooze out of him and into me. He stared right back at me. He still had confidence that I never would have. He would protect me.

"What if we can't call off the hit? "

"I'm not working with doubt, Babe."

He didn't answer my question! He never answered my questions.

The conference call with Joe Morelli was in 5 minutes. It would be the first time I would see his face since the night he said goodbye. I paced the room, watching the clock. I didn't know how I felt about him anymore. Thinking about it made me feel strange and light headed. I started breathing hard. I did a few stretches, walked back and forth from the window to the table. I wasn't hungry. I really didn't want to do this. I was back into a situation not any different from the one I got into when I left. Nothing had changed. I had prolonged it by running. I wanted to be more grown up, I wanted to be more productive. But not at this very moment. Not now. Because at this moment, I had to get out of the room before I freaked out. I was sweating; I was going to have an anxiety attack. I sure as hell wasn't going to do it in front of all these people.

"I need to go to the bathroom." I said, and I got up, and instead went outside and ran.

There have been times when I have taken off before, I've used my bedroom window at my parents house, or my bathroom window at the apartment. Sometimes it is just necessary to take a break, go find someone or some place that won't make the world look so bleak. The people I ran too were Mary Lou, Lula, and even my friend Mooner. Morelli and Ranger have been in my web of safe places from time to time. None of those places were available to me. I had worked really hard to get my head out of my ass. I had worked on my skills. I was a decent Bounty Hunter, I had a Jeep that hadn't been destroyed, I had held on to my handcuffs, for God's sake.

I climbed up the mountain behind the cabin. Going down looked like it might end badly. Up was better. I wanted to just get away from all the bad that kept creeping into my life. To be stronger, to be able to face Morelli, maybe even be Bionic. At the very least I wanted to be able to face the one person I was trying to prove myself to. I wanted to say to Morelli, "See? I can take care of myself. I am not a walking disaster, you jerk"

Shit. It wouldn't happen today. Nothing had changed at all. Now I had to have a team of people keeping me safe. I wanted to scream. I was dealing with the same old problems that always interrupted the safe places inside my heart.

Ok…Sooo.. Climbing up a mountain may seem fun to most people, but. It was summertime. Summer in New Mexico was nothing short of well, hot. The ground was so blistering it burned my fingers as I grabbed hold of each and every rock. I didn't have the right shoes for this type of climbing; I don't think I owned shoes for this. But I did it anyway. By the time I stopped climbing I was on a small plateau high above the valley. The cabin looked small. I felt better way up here. I didn't want to have to talk to Joe. I was not ready to face that right now. Thirty minutes past as I sat pretending that my life was normal when my phone rang, and brought it all back.

"What?" I knew I sounded rude, but I was not ready to put my big girl pants on yet, today. Give me a break already. It was Ranger, and he was saying something to me, but he kept going from English to Spanish to maybe German for all I knew..

He sounded kind of frustrated, so I faked some static and hung up.

I had done everything I knew how to get good at something, and it was working.. Then life had to drag me back into the circle of problems I had before. Two hours later I was feeling a little more confident, and I had to find a bathroom.. I was hot, and I think I was getting a pretty good sunburn.

I stood up and took a look around, realizing that I could not get down from this place I had decided to run to.

I took a deep breath, and called Ranger. He picked up, but he was silent.

"I'm stuck." I said. "I can't get down." I sighed. "I need some help."

I could sense him smiling. (Almost).. Through the phone. I knew he was aggravated with me, but he still liked that I called to ask for assistance.

"Where are you?" he said. "You left your bag and your tracker here. We have been looking for you."

I told him that I was up the mountain behind the house.

"Hal won the bet then". And he hung up.

Tank and Lester got me down without too much trouble. I kicked Tank in the face once, but it was just a little kick and it wasn't my fault.

We walked back to the house; I thanked them for helping me.

"Joe wasn't the one we talked to; he opted out of the conference call." Lester said. "He let one of the other guys fill in. Just so you know."

I was still glad not to have been there. I was able to ward off an embarrassing anxiety attack; I didn't want to let them see me lose it. I went into the cabin, directly upstairs as quickly as I could. I didn't want the evil eye from Ranger just yet. I really had to pee. And I wanted a shower. I was hot and had desert sand down my pants, I think I had decent sunburn to go with it.

The shower felt great. I checked the mirror. I had slight sunburn, but it just made my freckles come out a little on my nose that I didn't know existed. I thought it gave me a healthy red glow. At least I told myself that it was a healthy red glow, and the heat that was coming from it was just my imagination.

I am determined to be OK with my life, from this point on...

I took a deep breath, wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out of the bathroom.

Ranger was sitting on his bed. Watching me like I was an animal he was studying. I pretended that he was not there, and I started looking for my clothes. I could not remember if I left my bag in here, downstairs, or in the car.

I was flustered that he was in the room. I had come out of the shower confident, but not confidant enough to put my underpants on in front of Ranger.

"Your bag is still in the car, babe."

I started for the stairs. I didn't care if I was in just a towel, I wanted my clothes.

Ranger grabbed my towel and pulled me back, he picked me up and tossed me on the bed.

"You can't just go walking around without any clothes on around here" fire flickered through his eyes.

"My men are_ nice_ to you, but I don't want to get them all riled up. It could turn into a pissing contest, and I don't need the drama right now."

He went down to the jeep, before I could tell him where he could stick it, and came back up with my bag. He put it on the bed and sat back down in a chair. Watching me. Like he was before. As if there was no break in the moment. like I had walked out of the bathroom to him. I couldn't believe I needed to tell him that I wanted to dress alone. I was starting to get mad.

"Are you going to leave so I can get dressed?"

"No."

I couldn't believe he said that!

So I did what any rational girl would do. I took my towel off and sauntered over to the window, Turned on the lights so everyone could see me, and I proceeded to get dressed. I knew that his whole crew was outside, and with the light on, they could see everything that went on in the upstairs rooms.

I think I surprised him because his eyes flicked from chocolate-brown to black and he walked over to the window, took the remote, and the shades went down over the window.

He stared at me with eyes that were little black orbs of fury, and I was a little afraid. I had never really seen Ranger get angry, and I didn't want to see it now. But I couldn't help myself. He was being a jerk by staying in the room while I got dressed; he was doing it on purpose, because I wouldn't follow directions.

He spoke softly and in command of himself, like he was holding back the growling cat with one hand.

"I thought we had an understanding about how you and I need to act when my men are present. When we are alone, that may waver in your favor, but when I am with RangeMan employees, I need some cooperation from you."

He almost continued and I could see he had to prevent himself from saying something that probably would have started a fight. Maybe he had decided that was enough. I stood there thinking I needed to put some distance between us.

"You gave all my men a show out there." I have no idea what the effect will be, but you called my bluff, and I am kind of impressed."

This was not what I had expected from him, it had probably taken a lot of Zen Buddha Stuff to get him prepared to make that speech. He came closer to me. His eyes were soft now and sensuous.

"If you weren't ready to do the interview today, all you needed to do was tell me. I'll listen to you. We still need to talk to you about the conversation with Trenton P.D." He touched me, looking down at my body and then back up into my eyes. "But it can wait..."

I hadn't gotten far in dressing myself, and he was standing extremely close to me, looking down the length of my body as his hands traveled down my arms. A wave of heat traveled through me, and my heartbeat quickened. He took my hands in his. They laced together. His hands were surprisingly gentle. I glanced up at his face. He was watching me.

"Stephanie, I can't help myself. You're what I want." I kissed him. I felt the same as he did, and I was scared of how I felt. I pulled his shirt out of his jeans, pulling it over his head and looked at his chest, seeing the scars from the bullets he took for me. I touched them and bent down and kissed them both. He slid his hands down the back of my shoulders to my back, gently touching with the tips of his fingers, as I pulled at the buttons of his jeans releasing them one at a time and letting his pants fall away, sliding them down his hips as he kicked his shoes off. We stood together naked. Letting our fingers move slowly over each other's bodies. He kissed me as he picked me up and laid me on to his bed. Ranger and I made love to each other. Slowly at first, and then violently with so much passion it left us both breathless. He whispered in my ear "you have to stop doing things like that. Or I won't ever let you leave my bed." I nuzzled closer into him. Hardly believing this was happening.

We sat up together in the aftermath. Ranger turned out all the lights and opened up the large plate-glass window. And we watched the sun go down; I lay back on his chest. He was kissing the back of my neck and holding me close. It just seemed so perfect. I never wanted it to end He kissed me again and held me close as the sun hit the canyon walls and disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The bustling sounds of evening activities arose from downstairs as the rest of the crew came in. Soon, the aroma of food floated through the bedroom, and washed over me. I could smell fresh garlic, onions, and even fresh-baked bread tempting me.

"This place is so different from Rangeman."

"It's completely different. That's the point." Ranger kissed my shoulder, his hand slowly caressing my breast. We were lying together in the dark, the full moon bright enough for us to see. Warm air drifted through from the open window.

"What happened to your Dad? You never mentioned him."

"You ask a lot of questions, Stephanie Plum."

"I'm a curious person, sue me."

"My father was in the military, like I was. He got shot in the head by friendly fire during training exercises. He lived, but the bullet lodged in his brain. Eventually he started acting different. He was disoriented, hallucinating. Getting bad headaches, and he had fits of anger. He was afraid to be around us. Sometimes he wouldn't even know who we were. The doctors said the bullet was moving, and surgery would likely kill him. He bought the cabin up here so he wouldn't harm anyone. We would visit him. Sometimes he would come see us. Then one day we got a call that the cabin had been abandoned. The search went on for two weeks, but they didn't find him. He probably just wandered off."

Ranger climbed out of bed and checked his watch, and started getting dressed.

"How old were you?"

"Eight. He said quickly. "Get dressed and come downstairs. I have paperwork and phone calls to make. I will see you down there." He kissed me one last time, dragging me back down on the bed, his hands roaming over my skin. When he left, I laid there for a moment trying to collect myself. Holy crap. This was too much.

I found my bag on the floor next to the bed, and started getting dressed. My things were still at the apartment in Scottsdale. Everything was there. I had only brought a skirt, a pair of jeans, tank top, a jacket and some underwear, and socks. I wanted to go back and get my stuff. The thought of kicking Vinnie's ass got me anxious. I looked around the room. The moon was bright and I could see the pictures on the walls and in frames on the dresser. Some were documents of different events from Rangers tours of service framed and placed neatly and orderly on the wall in front of me. 8 x 10 pictures showing young men in uniform. Some standing around large guns, or posing with huge machines, helicopters, and even a military tank. Ranger was in some of the pictures. In others, I imagine he was the photographer. Each picture of him got a little older and a lot more serious.

I pulled on jeans and the stretchy tank top as I studied the pictures. Family photos, when Ranger was more Ricardo Carlos Manoso and not yet labeled Ranger. One was of a boy, being hugged by a man and a woman. She was very beautiful; the man very dark and handsome. The man had his arms around the boy protectively and the woman was holding him close, they were all smiling. The boy was small and thin; he had hair that looked like it had needed cutting. He had a face just like his fathers. These were Rangers Parents, and they had been very happy that day.

More pictures were on the dresser. A boy and a girl that might have called Ranger "Ricky" or "Carlos" or even "Carl". She was about 2 or 3, he was about 6. She had a baby in her arms. They were standing next to a little bakery that I recognized as the one I went into to ask about Ranger not long ago. The bakery had not changed much. I looked around the room, finding more pictures over by the window. A Christmas picture with a large family was eye level to me, framed in black. Ranger's mother was smiling and standing next to him. He was in Army fatigues; maybe he had come home on leave. The whole family sitting around a Christmas tree full of presents. He truly did have a huge family. There were little kids in stop motion, running as the picture was taken. In Rangers arms was a little baby and next to him, standing and looking at the camera and smiling was a girl no older than 18. I am guessing this was Julie and her mother right after she was born. He looked proud, and he looked scared all at the same time. I must have looked at the picture for a long time. I felt a hand touch my waist and I saw Ranger take a look at the picture.

"I knew you would be up here snooping around." He pointed to each person, telling me who they were. He told me his family, for the most part still lived in the same area that he had grown up, and it made me miss my family even more, and I knew that I wanted to get back to them.

We went down stairs to music, hot men and good food. I think only Hal and Lester must have seen me naked, because both of them had a hard time looking me in the eye, and both turned Beet Red when I said hello. Tank just said hello and looked like Tank. It could be that not a lot rattled Tank.

Hal was outside working over a large charcoal grill. I didn't get a lot of Barbecued meals growing up. My mother was in charge of family dinners at our house. Lula, Grandma Mazur and I tried to get the hang of it once, but it turned into a disaster I try hard not to remember. In Arizona, it was not normal if you didn't know your way around a grill. I ate BBQ about once a week. Vinnie and I bought our own grill, but never fully got the hang of it. Hal looked like he knew what he was doing, which is good, because I couldn't give him any pointers. He sent me inside for some secret ingredients that he needed. I was happy to help. I felt kind of like a third wheel. I was use to women doing all the cooking. Not me, of course. I could boil water, and bake stuff. Everything else usually came from a package. He had chicken, steak, and fish going all at the same time. I went in to hunt for the missing ingredients. Tank was sitting at the table talking to Ranger. He looked serious. He was concerned about something. Ranger was leaning back in this chair listening. I know a private conversation when I see one, so I found everything he wanted and walked back outside.

Ranger walked out to us a few minutes later and asked me to come back upstairs with him. He was in the bedroom, packing an overnight bag when i came in.

"I have to take off for the night." he said. "I have some things I need to finish, and it has to be done in person. Tank is coming with me, but Hal, Lester and Ramon will be here. I reserved a plane to take you back to Scottsdale. You need to talk to the police and find out if they know anything about what happened at the office. It is easier to do in person then trying to get anything over the phone. I have a feeling you would like to get your gun and some clothes from your apartment at the office. I know it is beyond reason to hope that you could let Hal and the rest of the team go in and collect your things for you while you are at the police station. There is a good possibility that there are people in Scottsdale now that have the contract. You will only stay safe if you stay with the team. Wear your vest at all times, even when you go into the cop shop."

I was nervous. "So you think that there will be people watching for me now?"

"I am almost sure of it"

"What changed?"

"The contract has been out now from the big boys for more than a month. It would just be stupid of them not to have picked up that you were in Arizona by now."

My heart skipped. I sat down.

"Wear your vest. You will be OK as long as you stay with Hal."

He handed me the reservations.

If you have to go searching for your cousin, or do anything other than just going and grabbing some things from the office, try to keep everyone with you. I am not going to tell you what you can and can't do out there, Stephanie. You have to keep your own council on what you want to risk. Try not lose the team, and don't get dead."

Ranger picked up the bag and threw it over his shoulder. "Your plane leaves at 7am. You should be done and back here at Five." He pulled me in and kissed me. "Be Careful".

I white knuckled it back to Scottsdale with the same plane, but Ramon was the pilot. Hal sat in front and Lester squeezed next to me. I kept the parachute on my lap and waited for fate to take me.

I looked at Lester beside me. "How come there is only one parachute?"

He raised his eyebrows and looked around. "I don't know, but If we are going down in this baby, you're not flying solo. The door is next to me. "

I hadn't thought of that. I had a feeling all of them would be trying to use the one parachute. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic.

There was a rental car waiting for us when we landed. Scottsdale was already over one hundred degrees. Later on in the day would approach hotter than hell status in my book, and I planned on being indoors by that time if possible. We went to the Police Station, and I gave them my statement about the break-in and the shooting. Officer Flanders said they would send an officer to the scene to make a report. No one had reported any shots fired. He asked the basic questions, if I had contacted our insurance company, and suggested a decent alarm system for the building. While I was there, I asked about what I should do about the website Joyce had put up. He suggested a really good lawyer, then proceeded to ask for the website name so he could check it out. When I wouldn't give it up, he took a large file from under the desk, and place it in front of me.

"Before you got here, we decided to do run a background check on you, Miss Plum. It was very interesting."

He pushed it towards me. It was four inches thick. I opened it. There were pictures and newspaper articles about various accidents, cars blown up, apartment fires, the funeral home… The list went on and on. It was a train wreck of incidents, including financial problems, and work history. My involvement with various criminals including Lula and Jackie, Connie, Ranger, Mooner, Sally, and Vinnie. I couldn't believe that this much information was available to anyone. I guess my dream of becoming a government spy was now shot to shit.

I groaned. "Are you telling me that anyone who wants to, can get all this information about me from a background check?"

"Well, Maybe not as thorough, but it's all there if you search it out."

As I walked out, a black Hummer drove through and pulled up to the back of the building where we unload passengers to the dock. My eyes got big as I watched a little weasel of a man get out of the passenger side of the truck and open the back door to a screaming Carl Fontaine. We had tracked him for about a month. He was handcuffed, and it looked to me like he had been pepper sprayed way too many times.

Vinnie and Joyce were dropping him off. Vinnie was unloading Carl, and didn't look so good. Carl's Face was red from being gassed to much and he had puked all over his pants. I grabbed Carl from him, holding his cuffs tight.

"Hey, Vinnie." I said.

He looked at me and almost smiled.

"Stephanie, your back!"

"I know about the website you dog turd."

Vinnie gave me a deer in the headlights look and turned tail, jumping in the Hummer. As they barreled out of the parking lot, Joyce gave me the finger. and I screamed at them as they took off out of the police station. "Grandma Plum and Grandma Mim are going to get you for that, Vinnie! Not only them, Me, Vinnie. Just wait. You better take that thing down before I sue you, you little prick!"

I took a hold of Carl and asked for the paper work on him. The man at the front desk pretended he didn't see anything whatsoever of the incident outside. If they were just going to leave him here, I should at least get the money for him.

Hal and the rest of the crew were waiting outside for me. I wanted my clothes, I wanted my Jeep. I wanted my gun. I wanted my dignity back. The website was intrusive, embarrassing, and It really pissed me off that both could stoop lower than dirt to do that to me. I rescued Vinnie. I sometimes even defend him. All the information that I saw in the file at the station, none of it was stating that seventy-five percent of my captures went through without a problem. That should deserve at least a paragraph in the research of my life. One thing had changed. I did not want to go hide and feel bad about it. I have had plenty of guys shoot at me before, It should not stop me from living my life, and plus, I just did not feel like I was going to die today. That made me feel pretty good. I wanted to find Vinnie and Joyce. I wanted to do it alone. Having an escort was annoying. I had three babysitters.

"I need to stop at the Bonds office and pick up my stuff. It will just take a second."

Hal and Lester both looked at each other. Ramon raised his eyebrows and looked down, texting something to someone.

"What are you doing?"

He looked like he had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Um..We have to report everything that goes on. Those are the rules. I'm not losing my job."

I did not like to be under surveillance. As a matter a fact I hated it. I couldn't think straight when I had bodyguards surrounding me. I was frustrated, still aggravated over the stupid file on the desk at the cop shop. I wanted to go to the office, go to the house, get my gun, punch Vinnie, then I wanted to talk to Kyle about what happened at the office. For some reason, I wanted him to know that his tactics worked. Plus I didn't say goodbye. He had become a friend, It was rude if I just left. I wanted to talk to him alone. I knew it was risky, I knew It was dangerous. I knew I would do it anyway.

"I need to stop at the mall. It will just take me a second..."

Vinnie and I were pretty good at our job out here in Arizona, and because we didn't have a lot of back up, we set things up in certain places for emergencies. A little blue Ford Escort was one such set up. It was in the parking lot right outside the back entrance of Victoria's Secret.

They walked into the mall with me, but stopped short when I walked into Victoria's Secret, and waited outside. I knew I was being childish. I wasn't being professional at all. I yelled at myself but my brain just kept going. I guess I wasn't under control of my feelings yet. I was out the back door and into a little Ford Escort in 2 and 2. Ranger would have come in with me. Ranger would have also been keen on what I was doing moments before I knew what I was doing. I can always depend on the merry men not to want to go into a lingerie shop with me. The store has a great backdoor and a manager that loves to get a twenty under the table for helping out with something exciting. It probably wasn't the smartest move I had made, but I needed to think and I wanted to face Vinnie without an audience and without Ramon texting my every move. I didn't care that everyone would be pissed. Sometimes I felt like I was the Presidents unruly daughter that had to be protected from herself.

I motored over to the Bonds office, taking a deep breath. It was only a few days ago this drive was an everyday thing. It was nice to be alone. I had a little more than twenty minutes before Hal, Lester and Ramon would be here. They knew where I was going to go. Vinnie was not there. The office had been cleaned up, but the files were still out of the cabinets, just not all over the floor anymore. Glass had been swept up, and the front door had been replaced. I ran upstairs two at a time and started packing up my clothes. I liked this office; I liked to be in control of Scottsdale's bonds. I looked over at my laptop and all the work that I had accomplished out here; I am good at something. I was good at managing an office and I was pretty decent at picking up skips, and was even better at research. I was no Sherlock Holmes, but most of the time could figure out how to pick someone up and get them to the cop shop before the bond ran out.

My twenty minutes were up and I heard voices downstairs. Footsteps walking up the stairs towards me, but I didn't look up, I knew that the merry men would find me; it was obvious where I was. I glanced up, ready to be reprimanded for losing them at the mall. Two men were standing at my bedroom door. Rifles trained on me. I believe I stopped breathing. One was very tall and thin and wore a baseball cap over his long stringy dishwater blond hair. He had on a stained wife beater and a jean vest that had once been a jacket. His faded jeans needed to be washed two weeks ago. He was smiling at me. His brown stained teeth gapped. He looked about forty with a scraggle of a beard that had tried to come in, but didn't have the strength.

"Well, well, well" he said. "I knew that you would finally come back to the office. I told Tanner here, that it was only a matter of tick-tocks before we got a chance at the prize, and lookie here... I was right."

Tanner stood a few feet behind him, smiling a nearly toothless grin. He had worse hygiene than baseball cap did, his teeth were close to green. He was Short, about five foot three, and matched his width to his length. He looked square. What was left of his hair was a chilling bright orange color. He had on what used to be a white t-shirt and a black leather vest. Tattoos rolled down his pudgy arms. Baseball Cap took a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. He glanced at it and handed it to his partner, Tanner.

"Yep, that's her" Tanner said, stuffing the paper into his pocket.

My gun was still at Vinnie's house. My pocketbook was on the bed. I had left the stun gun at the cabin. I did have my cell phone and a tracker, but no Hal, no Lester and no Ramon. I was screwed. This is why you don't lose your bodyguards. I slid a glance to the window, trying to judge the distance from here to the ground and believed it might not be in my best interest to try it.

"Step away from the window, and come towards us nice and careful like." He said. "Unless you want your brains all over your pretty little shirt, there."

The last thing I wanted was to go to them. I stood motionless, trying to come up with a plan.

"OK,. I said. I need my bag, though." I took a step towards it. My Four Ounce can of high-octane pepper spray was in the bag. I had to get it.

"We are not fucking around here. He lowered his gun and fired. Searing pain hit me and I screamed. The bullet hit me in the leg. It burned, sending panic signals to my brain. I went down on one knee, trying to suck it in, trying and failing to keep calm and not cry. Tears rolled down my face, but more in a rage of anger than fear. He shot me! I tried hard to pretend I was defeated.

"Crawl to me." Baseball cap sneered. "Now bitch, or I will use this weapon to eliminate your head from your shoulders."

I knew I didn't have much of an option; I crawled to him, waiting for a chance to get away. It was painful; I focused on using the pain as a tool to stay angry. He pulled me up by my hair. I wanted to kill this jackass. The pain doubled as I put pressure on my leg to stand up. I held my breath, trying to stay alert and upright as he pulled me through the door backwards. He held his gun against my temple. I let myself go dead weight, making it harder for him to drag me. He pulled me down the stairs talking to Tanner.

"Bring the car around. We gotta get before someone spots us."

I decided in an instant that I did not want to die at the hands of these bozos. This was not the way I wanted things to end. I threw all my weight at him as he took a step down one of the stairs. We fell down the stairs backwards. He had to let go of my hair to get a grip on the railing. When that happened, his gun hit his arm and discharged shooting himself in the face. Tanner saw what happened and ran. He got about five feet before he was picked up and thrown across the room by Lester. Hal was behind him. He helped me up. Let's get you secure before I get fired.

Lester and Hal drove me to the hospital to get my leg looked at. Lester stayed behind with the Police and the Coroner. The bullet had done a through and through. The bullet traveled through the top of my leg and exited out the back, not staying inside and not causing a lot of damage. I needed stitches, and antibiotics. The doctor said I would have a scar, but that I would be OK. Hal looked like the color was coming back into his face. I was sorry that I had left them. I smiled at him, but he just shook his head. I think he wanted to strangle me for putting myself in danger, but he wasn't allowed. Ramon was texting furiously. I was sure that he was giving the report to the bat cave or a space station. I had given my statement to the homicide detective that came down to the hospital. He said that Tanner Derby was a local, and had a sheet on him that took five minutes to print out. It kept getting longer every time they picked him up. He was already talking. The pair thought that they could pick me up and let someone else kill me. They just wanted the money for the pick up. The other man was Rudy Morgan, he was a local also. They were street hustlers looking for easy money.

This was going to to need to be resolved. The next time someone took a shot at me, I had a feeling they would be successful. My nine lives were up. We left the hospital. The Police let me collect my things from the office. I suspect they wanted us to leave their peaceful town and move on. I didn't get any flack from Hal. Ramon had chosen to keep quiet and Lester was in security mode. Sunglasses and all.

We drove to the house. My jeep was still parked out front. Joyce's Hummer was parked halfway into the garage. Joyce walked out the front door as we pulled in. I jumped out of the front seat and slammed the door. No one followed me. I limped up the driveway determined. She walked towards me and I sucker punched her and broke her nose. She dropped in front of me, and I kicked her for good measure. I went inside, collected my gun, and left. I hoped I ruined her face. I didn't see Vinnie. He was probably hiding in the bathroom like a little girl. I wrote a note and left it on the table. It said "I'm suing you. The site better be down in the next 48 hours, Vinnie."

My Jeep was in the driveway. I really wanted to keep it. It was in my name, I bought it with cash. Hal made arrangements for it to be in Trenton in a couple of days. They would park it at my parent's house for now. We dropped by the Dojo on the way back to the airport. Kyle was waiting for us. Hal, Lester and Ramon all saluted him when we walked in. Kyle was in his black gi. It looked like we had caught him in the middle of his training exercises. I had to say, If I stayed in Scottsdale, I would have wanted more from him than just training. He was all kinds of fine. Dark hair,light brown eyes. The body of a martial artist. Agile and graceful. I told him about what happened. His face grew dark. He looked at the team behind me.

"Are you guys going soft? You lost a civilian?"

"Sir," Ramon said. "She is not a civilian, she is a tyrant. Slippery like a snake. Smart, and Ranger said we weren't allowed to restrain her."

My mouth must have dropped to the floor, because I was looking for it. Slippery like a snake? a tyrant?

They talked as if i wasn't there! "Excuse me." My eyes cut across to Ramon. "What did you just say?"

Ramon was still standing at attention, in front of Kyle. His eyes cut back to me. "You lost us, Stephanie. You left us scrambling, like you always do. I like you, and its good to keep our skills sharp, but Ranger will freak out if we don't keep you safe. You don't trust us. You always run. You're going to get killed acting like a vigilante, and we will be blamed for it. Ranger would likely break up the team if something like that happened. None of us are willing to go to bat for you unless you work with us. This is between us, and you. If I hear you tell him we had this conversation, my head will be on a stick. We are a team, we invited you in. Stick to us.

Kyle watched all this unfold in front of him. "That is the best advice you will ever receive, Stephanie. Don't fuck up the friendship and teamwork with this group, and you will forever be family with them. They will not only watch your back, but they will die for you. I know this first hand. Ranger's team is faithful to the death. Be a part of it, you won't regret it. Decide to go off on your own, you will be standing out there naked.

Kyle gave me a book on some of the training practices we had worked on. He told me to be careful, and if I needed anything, I knew where he was. He kissed me on the forehead, told me he was impressed I had lost one of the best trackers and teams he had ever worked with, and he was looking forward to seeing where my life lead me.

Stunned silence overcame me, and the plane ride back to the cabin was quiet. Ramon put it all out there on the line for me. Of course they were right to be pissed that I had done this again, making them look bad. I got spanked right in front of Kyle, and I was feeling a little defeated from the experience. Ramon was letting me be one of them, but in return, i had to start trusting. That one is difficult for me.

None of us talked on the way back to the cabin. I didn't know what to say. We were almost to the cabin, And I asked Ramon to stop the truck "Do you really think I'm a tyrant and a slippery snake?"

"Those may not have been the best words for it, but you are making us look bad. We all like you. Work with us, not against us. We are a family, and Ranger invited you in. That means you are family also. Trust us. Give us credit. We could have worked that out with the office, and you wouldn't have gotten shot. We are here to keep each other alive. Just trust us and be part of the team, and things will go a lot smoother."

I decided to do just that. I hugged them all, and thanked them for saving me today. We drove back to the cabin a lot happier. I still wondered about the tyrant and snake comment, But I would keep it to myself.

I thought a lot about what to do next. I was having the Jeep brought to Trenton. I was anxious. I didn't know what to do to fix this. I didn't know what to expect when I got back either. I missed my family. I missed Joe. I missed my old life. I sighed. That part of my life was over, and I had no idea how to deal with seeing Joe again. He lived there, he worked Homicide. I would have to face him. It had been almost a year It was still painful, but it was getting better. His presence still cluttered my life and my heart. He was part of my past, and I needed to deal with it. I hugged myself. It was going to be a long few weeks. I had grown up a little, I learned a lot, and I had kept my Jeep. That had to count for something.

Ranger came in with Tank after midnight. I had tried to stay up and wait for them, but instead fell asleep watching a nature show about cactus. Everyone was anxious about getting home. The whole atmosphere was different from yesterday. Ranger was all business when he walked in. He had a big file of papers in one hand and his pack in his other. Without a word, Hal and Lester picked up and left.

Tank got himself a glass of water and smiled at me. "I wish I would have been there to see you punch Joyce. He blew me a kiss. Goodnight Stephanie."

I said Goodnight as he walked out the door.

I shut the TV off. Ranger dropped the files on the table, shrugged his pack of his shoulder, Dropped his gun belt on the floor, took off his jacket and came over and sat down on the couch opposite me.

He leaned forward. The lights were low in the cabin, but I could see his eyes. He looked concerned.

"That could have gone a lot smoother today. You're lucky they didn't kill you. How's your leg?"

"It hurts."

He continued to stare at me.

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah, I can stand…"

"Drop your pants."

Ranger had said strange things to me before, but I didn't know where he was going with this.

"What, now, here?"

I was standing there, thinking.. What if one of the guys came back in? I was feeling kind of modest about just dropping my pants in the living area of basically a frat house.

Ranger sighed.

"Come here then, he said… I want to see the wound, and I can't see it if you don't take your pants off.."

"Oh. Ok." I said lamely.

I limped over to him and he undid my button on my jeans, I felt a hot flash go through me. I tried to pretend I didn't feel it, I mean, this was NOT supposed to be a sexual thing, and he just wanted to see the bullet hole. But when I looked at him, his eyes had turned dark and I could tell that just being near my buttons was getting to him.

He put his thumbs inside the lining of the jeans, and shimmied them over my hips, down to my ankles. I stepped out of them. I was standing in front of him in just my underpants. I had chosen to wear my favorite underwear. I wore them for courage. After the bullet hole, I needed something to make me feel better. These were lucky. I had on my black lace string bikini underwear. It had been a decision of dress code. I didn't want panti-lines. Now I was feeling a bit vulnerable.

Ranger stared at them for a moment. Sliding his finger along the lace elastic then his eyes slid down to where the bullet hit me. There was a huge bandage around my leg. He inspected the binding, making sure that it was secure.

He stood up behind me and touched the back of my shoulder-blade, the pressure from his thumbs working it out the kinks from the last 24 hours. The pain in my leg was going away. He kept the pressure on and I closed my eyes. He kissed my neck, just below my jaw line. I was putty in his hands.…

Then he let go of the pressure point and looked at the panties again...

"We should really get upstairs, and get some sleep. We need to get up early tomorrow; I can't put off any of this police shit anymore."

When I looked at him, I could see sleep was pretty far from what he wanted. Before I had a chance to speak, He grabbed my clothes... picked me up and took me upstairs.

Morning came too soon, and covers were pulled away from me ...I groaned and went into the bathroom to take a shower and got dressed. Ranger was already up. He had probably run twenty miles by now, flew around the world, did jumping jacks on Mount Rushmore and Tie Chi.

Me, No.

He had come in from downstairs, taken a shower and was dressed in Range man black before he pulled the covers off..

I stood in the shower, starting to wake up as the water hit my skin. I had to wrap my leg in plastic before getting In the shower, so the bandage didn't get wet. Getting shot was a pain in the butt. I decided I would try harder not to get shot at anymore. What was I thinking, losing the team to try to handle everything alone.

I dried my hair, slathered mascara on my eyes, applied some smokey black eyeliner and managed to get my hair to coöperate. I looked pretty good for someone who just fell down the stairs and got shot. My knuckles hurt a little and I looked at them and remembered Joyce. I didn't break anything. All was well. It was a great punch. I needed to thank Kyle for that when I got a chance.

I padded downstairs. Enjoying the cool air and the silence of the morning.

I checked the fridge in hopes of finding breakfast pastries and muffins. The kitchen held the usual. There were bagels and coffee, some eggs, fruit and cheese.

I wanted cereal, milk and a boatload of caffeine, so I opted for a bagel, cream cheese, honeydew and coffee. Thank goodness for coffee, or I would turn into a toadstool. I brought it all over to the big table. The meeting was this morning. Time for reality to hit. I was more ready for it this time. I suppose hitting Joyce and breaking her nose made me feel better.

The front door opened and everyone ambled in dressed in Rangeman black, all looking professional and ready to take on the world. They gave me the confidence I lacked. Ranger came in last. No one chose casual today. Ranger took business seriously. Everyone took a seat at the table. Ranger handed everyone a thin folder, inside we had all the information he had compiled.

I opened it. There were pictures and profiles of about 10 different people. All associated with the problem I was having. Tony the tool, Fredrick the weasel, Aerie and Betty Watson from Killemall, Montana, Kenny Shunt, who was in the backseat of the Watson's Cadillac, Then there was a picture of me. Four other pictures were of people I had never seen. Ranger sat down next to me and touched the computer screen. It came on. The screen was large, about 30 inches wide. The image was separated into four boxes. Each box had a table of about 8 people. I knew one had to be Rangeman in Trenton. I was guessing the other two were other Rangeman locations. The last, was an image of a room I had been in before. It was the conference table for Trenton PD. Five people were sitting at the table including Joe Morelli. My heart fluttered for a moment. I looked at Ranger...

"Can they see us?"

"Yeah," He said quickly, as he turned to the monitors~

"Good morning gentleman." He said "I want to thank everyone for coming in early to do this. Just so everyone knows, Trenton P.D Is with us, so heads up everyone.

Ranger introduced the room, and then the others. Some People I had met before, most I had not. When they got to the Trenton table, I could see Joe was still there. He looked good, He also looked happy. Not sad,depressed, heartbroken or ready to kill himself. He actually looked relaxed. I took a deep breath went with the flow, and listened to the reports of what had gone on and what had changed since yesterday.

Trenton Police were investigating Tony "The Tool" for over five years. When his name resurfaced eleven months ago, everyone was elated. Hoping they could finally bring him in. Then, he disappeared, In the wind again. Two weeks ago, at least four hit men that the police knew about were now in Trenton. Informants were talking, no one knew what was going down, only that a target was coming back into the game, and the money for the hit was growing. Two weeks... That couldn't have been me. I was not planning to come back two weeks ago. I felt maybe this meant that I was not the target after all. Apparently no one else thought I was out of hot water yet. It appeared everyone was more concerned with this news.

Joe was the first to speak. "Look, I don't know what you're thinking of doing, but bringing Stephanie back now is extremely dangerous, and stupid. With all that we have just given you, you should reconsider. We might even be able to put her in some kind of protection program. Keep her safe and away from this until we can figure out what's going on, unless you are looking to get her killed, you need to keep her away from Trenton."

"I appreciate your thoughts on this, but it is not my decision," Ranger said. "This is Stephanie's. I think she has a good point; This needs to be dealt with at a professional level. Running and hiding never helped anyone. Dealing with this up front is the only way to resolve this. I agree with her decision to go back."

Joe looked at me, He seemed to really look this time. He smiled, but it looked from here like a stressed smile.

"It's nice to see you again, Stephanie. I hope you know what you're doing. "

Joe had lost his happy and relaxed look. In Fact, He looked really pissed off.

Ranger Continued. "Plum Bail Bonds was hit in Scottsdale four days ago, we don't know if there is a connection, only that the bottom floors were searched, and we have reason to believe that two snipers took shots at Stephanie to engage her to leave and possibly lead them to the second residence."

Joe sat up straight in his chair, and looked down at the papers in front of him.

Ranger let that sit for a moment and then continued.

"We have evidence linking these events to the FBI investigation over the disappearance of Fredrick "The Weasel" Camarillo. He was found a month ago. We now believe that a hit was initially called on Stephanie because she either took, or was thought to have taken something from Paul Banter, aka Fredrick Camarillo, that could be the incriminating evidence against the families of organized crime in New York and Trenton. The FBI, we feel could be looking for ways to cover up the mistake they made. Losing the witness and the evidence, and hoping that they could recover original footage of Miss Plum and Fredrick Camarillo at the residence of Vincent plum and Stephanie  
Plum in Scottsdale, Arizona. We have no way of confirming any of this, gentlemen. Please keep this as theory only. There has already been an attempt on her life, as of yesterday, this is a high priority case for us, the details of the attempt have been faxed to all of you."

I could see Joe, looking at the new information sitting in front of him. "Are you telling me, Manoso, that Stephanie has already been shot in the leg, shot at possibly by FBI snipers, knocked down the stairs, and has killed a hit man, all in the course of 3 days? Un-freakin'-believeable. And you actually think coming back to Trenton to face the Mob is a safe thing to do?"

I could feel the tension in the air. If these two were together in the same room, there would be a real problem. All hell would feel the wrath. I read through the updates, making sure I was up to speed on everything.

Calmly Ranger continued to speak, ignoring Joe's raised voice and temper tantrum.

"Just so you know, for my squad, Miss Plum is not a client, this investigation is a personal. Please treat her with the same respect that you treat me. I will reimburse Rangeman for any expenses incurred."

When he said this, I shifted my eyes first to Ranger, and then to the screen where Joe was sitting. Joe was glaring now. Ranger might as well have said "Mine! Grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back into the cave." I felt my face flush, and my leg started shaking. Ranger was calmly sitting next to me, and I felt his hand rest on my knee and quiet it. He left it there. It was more comforting than possessive. I knew Ranger said what he did as an Alpha Male, personal property-let Joe know that I was not up for grabs thing. It really didn't bother me like I thought it would. Having Ranger set up boundaries was OK. At least for now.

Ranger ended the meeting with a thank you, and to tell them when we would be arriving back into town, And what he expected from RangeMan employees when he came in the door.

The screen went black in front of us. I started looking through the file that was in front of me instead of looking at the people who were in the room. Ranger was using his personal account for me; Joe was freaking out, all these new updates. No one said anything. Not Ramon, not Tank, not Lester, and not Hal.

It had never been discussed what my role was with Ranger, only that at RangeMan I was his personal property, which I thought was rude, but was told to deal with it. Ranger didn't seem to notice. He was in a zone. Trying to deal with keeping people in check and working out mathematical formulas for Flubber for all I knew. He got up from the table, and went upstairs to pack his things. I looked at everyone else at the table, and they just stared at me..

"What?" I said, flustered.

"If you look at it the way Joe said it", Tank said. "It has been a pretty crazy week."

Why was Joe concerned about me anyway? It was none of his fricken business. He was calling me a walking disaster; I could hear it in his voice. Jerk.

And Ranger. I knew I wasn't a client; but it still was a strange way to put things.

I went upstairs to collect my things and get going to New Jersey out-of-the-way. It felt like years since I had been there, and I was apprehensive, I felt like my head was on fire. I was still feeling the sunburn I had gotten. I think I I may have burned my scalp.

Ranger was in the bathroom, gathering things, cleaning up and getting the cabin ready to be closed up again.

I started putting my stuff in my bag and looking around, making sure I didn't leave anything. To say it was an uncomfortable silence was putting it lightly.

I didn't know how to approach the topic of "what happens with us in Jersey?", Without looking like I was getting my hopes up. I didn't know what I really wanted from Ranger, but I thought we had gotten really close the last few days, and I decided I might want it to continue. Having him say one of his no commitment lines was going to make me feel different this time. I needed to just keep my mouth shut, and be a big girl. I was pretty positive Ranger would revert into "Ranger Mode" when we got back, and I had to be ready for the let down.

Ranger finished his bathroom clean-up and walked over. He sat down on the side of the bed, putting his leg up leaning against the headboard.

"If I said something that bothered you, down there, I need to know."

"The speech about the personal thing, what was that supposes to mean?"

He sat there quietly for an annoyingly long time. I started to just gather my things again. Waiting for the inevitable.

"You are not a business decision, Stephanie. You are also not a commodity, and you are not something I can run numbers around. You and I have a personal relationship, one that I have no control over. I can't put it under entertainment anymore either. I don't know where this is going. I cannot put a time and date stamp on you, like I can with others. Just so the rest of the company knows, and so my books are right at the end of the month, I have to accommodate for you."

We stood and stared at each other in silence. I was expecting some unemotional hogwash like he always gives me, I believe he was telling me he cared about me, and he said it out of respect for me, maybe even for us.

I finally broke the silence and asked what time we were leaving.

I had found a connection between Ranger and I. Whatever was going on between us was going to be given some serious thought and not just from my point of view either. For now, we had a plane to catch.


	10. Chapter 10

New Mexico was clear across the United States from Trenton, New Jersey. Rangeman leased a private jet. Five of us, not including the pilot and copilot, boarded the plane. The Challenger Eight-Fifty was mid size. Because of this, we needed to use the same runway as large commercial jets. Ranger's company leased the plane for employees to travel quickly across state lines. Not only was it convenient. It was the most comfortable air travel ever plus, no security checks to go through, meant a lot less hassle for everyone. With a serious threat on my life, I also believe the private jet decreased the chance of a shooter getting to collect on my bounty.

Ramon drew the short straw and had to stay back at the cabins to wait for the cleaning service and lock up. He would also see to it that my Jeep was on a transport back to Jersey. He'd take a commercial flight home. Ramon had put it all out there for me at the Dojo. He was right, too. I was a pain in the butt to hold on to. I did have to admit it felt pretty good to know I could out maneuver every one of Ranger's guys. If they were going to have my back, I needed to have some respect for them. Plus, what they brought to the table as far as strength, skill and friendship, not including trust was an important thing. Not a lot of people will go to bat for you.

We waited our turn at takeoff as a plane taxied down the runway. I sat in the seat closest to the window in the middle of the plane. The inside was plush. It had beige carpet, large comfortable leather seats, color coordinated to match perfectly. At every chair had a o plug-in laptops, and plenty of room to recline and sleep. There was a stocked bar and a decent size bathroom too. It was very strange being on a plane this size without other passengers. No worry about who would sit next to you, if the guy behind you would kick your chair a million times or sneeze in your hair, or if the big man walking down the aisle would sit next to you so you couldn't get out to go to the bathroom. Not that I am uncomfortable with it, but I don't think for this trip, I would have a parachute on my lap. Although I still noted the emergency exit.

I wore my black suit. I wanted to look professional, and I wanted to look ready to face my home town. I had a pretty decent tan from being in the sun every day, and I thought I looked pretty good. I tried not to overdo my make-up. I was scared, but I was ready. Everyone on the plane was carrying concealed. The Sig is a decent size gun and I would be wearing it in a shoulder holster over my Kevlar vest. I needed to learn how to clean the gun and put it back together. Ranger told me learning about your weapon makes it an important tool to have, not knowing anything about it, could get you killed. I never liked guns, but I felt safer having this one with me.

The plane took off quietly. I hardly felt it move, much less leave the ground. I looked out over the mountains of New Mexico, It felt good to be safe, and inside Ranger's world, but It didn't stop me from feeling that what happened up here did not change what lied ahead. Ranger was Ranger. I was still the same girl, and I knew I wouldn't be able to handle a casual relationship, as much fun as it might be, I needed more than that.

I sat back in the chair and enjoyed the comforts of a luxury jet. On one side of the aisle there were five large single seats. Each one facing each other. On the other side, double seats. These had a small table in-between each set. Ranger and Tank sat on one side of the aisle in the double seats. Lester and Hal reclined in the seats in the front of the plane; Eyes closed, arms crossed. Casual relaxed. Ranger had the table cleared off and he rolled out a large map, with schematics of a building. Ranger owned the security company Rangeman. From what I knew about it, they provided and monitored security systems for businesses and residences all over North America. When I left for Scottsdale the business was expanding and keeping him busy. They were handling clients and setting up new security systems, keeping up with new methods to keep businesses secure in a changing environment. After 911, people afraid of terrorist actions. More fear, more security. Market concerns on Wall Street put another notch in Rangeman's worth, and they started a security guard section of the company. It was a changing field, and they were at the top of the list for reputable companies. I knew they wanted to expand, but for now, it was an American company. Rangeman had offices in Trenton, Atlanta and Florida that I knew about. It was likely that had grown in the year I was away. Ranger motioned for me to come over and join them.

"This is the Glaskil building." Ranger said.

Schematics of a building were laid out in front of them. I looked at a drawing of the front of a very large building. Almost square, eight or nine floors with a parking garage below ground level. There was a photograph of the actual building pinned to the front of the drawing. The building was dark gray or black. Tall and ominous in the picture with storm clouds behind it. He had put weights on each end of the drawings to keep them flat.

"Eight floors, plus a four level garage below. There is a security guard shack that checks ID's as each car goes through a gate. They have three armed security guards that walk in interior and exterior of the building twenty four hours a day. They have normal shift changes every eight hours, cameras on each of the doors into the building. In the last nine months, they have had five break-ins. The thieves take computers, software, client's personal information and original works of art that were placed on the eighth floor. Also a safe was taken in the last heist. The owner of the building is losing leases. Clients are finding safer, better places to do business. The office is leased to small law firms and there are two floors that hold government offices for FEMA. Glaskil has other offices in the states of Rhode Island, New York, and one in Moscow. So far, New Jersey is the only place this is happening. Glaskil Incorporated has hired Rangeman to fix the problem, whatever it might be. We would be setting up new security systems throughout the building, running thorough checks on employees, and rechecking the footage from cameras the nights they were robbed. This would be one of Rangeman's biggest clients so far. If we can have this building secure, it would put us close to the top of the best security firms in the nation. It would bring in big business, and that is what we have wanted from the beginning. Until I can assemble a team for this, we have to rely on schematics to do the groundwork. This is a new project. I want to go into the building with ideas already set in motion." Ranger Said. "This is a new field for us, what we do is usually provide the security and install smaller systems in residential areas, and empty buildings. We have a few clients that have businesses, but this one will be a huge accomplishment for this company. It could launch us into a bigger playing field. I need to hire a crew just for working these types of scenarios. We have only been working with installation for about two years now. This is a project we would like to discuss with you."

I looked up from the papers, surprised. I had helped Rangeman in the past. Usually doing research, but sometimes I would help by going into houses and figuring out what was wrong with home security systems. Rangeman had some break-ins and it was making the entire company look bad. The company finally figured out it was a bunch of teenagers who were angry Ranger wouldn't hire them. Since then, there have been some changes, mostly getting his employers up to speed with the new high tech underworld that is slowly brewing up from younger generations of people knowing more about computers than the people who created them. I had no real experience with high tech computers or security systems.

Tank and Ranger were both staring at me.

"Stephanie, don't look so shocked." Ranger stated. "When I said you were important to RangeMan that is what I meant. I have had you working with us in the past; you are good at determining location and distance for systems. You also weed out problems, and make clients at ease. We kept most of our clients from when the break-ins happened last year because of you. Having a women assisting on that was effective. We would like you to consider being a part of a team on this, maybe even heading it. But first, we have to get your head off a platter before we can discuss it with you more."

It almost sounded like this was a real job. It was nice to know that I had some talent at something that did not include getting blown up. We sat together huddled over the drawings. There were files that included the initial police reports for the five break-ins. We all argued about what should be changed and updated about the systems that were already in place to make it more secure, and at the same time, easy to navigate and enter and exit for employees. You don't want to have a bunch of people confused about how to get into the building without setting off alarms.

Time went by quickly. All of us deep in thought about the building. I wanted to do this, I wanted a chance to walk through the building, see where the access points and cameras were located. How the security system they were going to install would benefit the one they already had.

I was feeling a little nervous as we landed at a small airport an hour away from Trenton. Ranger started rolling up the maps and drawings. I was absorbed in this new project. Even If I didn't get to see the outcome, it took my mind

off what lie ahead.

Two Black Expeditions were waiting for us when we landed. I secured my vest, my gun was strapped to my side, I had a tracking device in my pocketbook along with my four ounce industrial strength pepper spray and my stun gun in my bag. The trucks were parked near the plane and we walked fast from the door out. Hal, Lester and Tank climbed in one, and Ranger and I in the other. My brain was back on overload. The team was on high alert. Tension held on the faces of the men that not twenty-four hours ago were playful and relaxed. This was no game. I had to be careful or I would lose my life.

It was already 10pm when we got moving back to Trenton. It had been a long flight. We were all tired. I had so many things I needed to do. I had doubts I would be able to get my apartment back, and as of right now, I was out of a job. Connie and Lula were my best option for full time employment, but they may have real bounty hunters working for them. Right now, a bed would be great. I wanted to close my eyes and breathe Jersey air. I was home, and it felt so good.

We drove through the city. The lights were familiar, and I absorbed myself into watching the buildings and people as we moved through Trenton.

"Stay with me tonight. Ranger said. "You need to keep a low profile, until we can figure out what the next move is going to be." He touched my hand, and stared at me for a minute. "Tell me now, if this is not ok. "

I was tired. I had no intention of running off. Rangeman sounded good to me.

"Plus…" He continued. "I was getting kind of use to having you in my bed" He smiled and turned back to the road.

"That's bold statement from a man who can't handle commitment. You better watch out, Ranger. I think your falling for me."

"You have no idea."

"Really?" I teased, raising my eyebrows,

He just half smiled.. Looked away at the glass in the window.

We turned the corner, and pulled into the underground parking lot at Rangeman.

Ranger's phone chirped as we parked. He checked the screen, and sent a message back, and put it back in his pocket.

"Eventually, we are going to have to discuss our relationship. I know it seems bizarre, but we need to establish boundaries."

Boundaries? I raised my eyebrows, again. What the hell was he talking about?

His phone vibrated once more, and he checked the message and did some more finger texting, and put it back in his pocket.

Ranger looked down again at the phone as another message came in. He looked irritated. His tone was of impatience.

"Apparently… People know we are back in town. There are some things that I need to take care of. I was trying to postpone them till tomorrow, but it seems that there is some urgency in fixing the problem now."

I knew I should be curious as to what the hell Ranger was talking about, but I was tired. My brain was mush. I am not sure if I was even awake. I could even be dreaming right now. I pinched myself. It really hurt, and I looked around, yep, Still in Rangers truck, still parked at Rangeman. All I could think about was food and sleep. I didn't care if Ranger drove off into the sunset at this point. Give me the sheets off his bed and Ella's food, and I would be fine, thank you. We got out of the truck and looked around. Rangeman was a very secure building, and I felt safe, even out in the open. We were in an underground parking lot, with monitored security. Ranger pulled me in close and kissed me, making me realize sleep could wait, and then he got in the Porsche and drove out. I took the elevator up to seven.

Ranger's apartment was cool and quiet when I walked in. Ella had put out fresh flowers. I dropped the keys into the silver bowl, listening to the silence. It had changed very little since I had been here last. I walked through each room remembering last words, ghost sounds of the past. I had liked living here, although impersonal it felt safe. Ranger had not been here for months. The scent of him lingered, but only faintly. The apartment looked unused. It was sparse compared to the cabin in New Mexico. I knew Ranger liked to keep his personal life separate from his work. I couldn't find a lot of flaws in that thinking, It might not be how I would want to live, but didn't mean it was wrong. I opened window blinds and looked out over the city. I had missed this place. It was my home.

I found plastic wrap in the kitchen, and wrapped my leg and took a long invigorating shower with Ranger's shower gel. All the kinks worked out of my back, and my leg was feeling better. I decided on a turkey club and a bottle of beer from his fridge. Thank you Ella. I plopped down on the couch and turned on the T.V. There was nothing worthy of my time, I shut the T. V. off and picked up the folder of information Rangeman had put together about the possible connections between things that had happened to me and what had been happening in Trenton. I read the updates and all the descriptions three times over. I rubbed my eyes. I couldn't hold them open anymore. I retreated to Ranger's bed and fell asleep on his two thousand count sheets. Whatever Ranger needed to do tonight was his own business, tonight I had everything I needed right here. Ella was going to go on my Christmas list.

It was close to dawn when I woke up; Ranger's arm was around me holding me close to him. He was still sleeping, I could feel his body move with each breath he took. Then it abruptly changed, as if he knew the moment my brain took over the involuntary breathing patterns. He kissed my neck and pulled me to him, and I turned towards him. And our bodies found a slow and lazy rhythm of the morning. Being this close to Ranger this time in his apartment was pure magic. He had me; I never wanted to let him go. Hours later we were still entwined with each other. His lips played kisses on my shoulder. The sun was just beginning to come up over Trenton.

Ranger finally spoke. "This is going to become a habit, If you're not careful, babe.

"What about you?" I said,

Ranger sat up, leaning against the headboard.

"I was talking about me." He said. "Maybe we should talk about it."

Um, sure. Ok. The talk. Great. Not that I didn't realize that it was coming. He is not exactly relationship hungry.

I sat up next to him on the bed. The sun was rising and the room was turning orange with its glow. I pulled the covers over me, suddenly I felt vulnerable, as the light of the morning woke up the room. I didn't want to talk about it. I was afraid of what I was feeling. He was always in control of his feelings, and I was never in control of mine. The thing about Ranger is you never know what will come out of his mouth. He had a tendency to be brutally honest and not know the things he said would be hard to take. He didn't hold any regard for feelings, and if you didn't like what he had to say, tough. I expected Ranger to kick me out of his bed eventually.

He looked intently at me for a moment. He looked serious.

"Stephanie I have relationships that you are unaware of."

He paused, gathering what he was trying to say.

"It was irrelevant before, but now I am not so sure. My feelings are changing for you; I don't want you to have questions about where things are leading. There are four women I see." He continued, keeping me captive with his eyes. "I keep them private. They keep me private. I see them occasionally, when it is convenient. I have to make a decision about how to handle them. I think we need to figure out where things are going between us."

He cleared his throat and continued.

He was nervous. I had never seen him nervous before. I relaxed a little as I watched him struggle with what he wanted to say.

"In the last week, we have jumped from casual sex to something much more serious. I called off a relationship last night that I have had with someone for a very long time. I have no idea how that is going to pan out. There may be some throwback. She was not happy. It was time I ended it. The other three, I will deal with later. I need to know if this is something that you want. If we decide to step up, and actually see each other, I really need to believe Morelli is not going to be a problem. He always has been there, and it kept me from getting to close, and I liked that. But if the tables turn, then we need some boundaries between him and me. I don't want to think about what would happen if we went toe to toe over you."

We sat there in silence for a while. To say that this put things in a completely "Um…" category was putting it lightly. Did he just say that? I was more curious with who it was that he had been seeing for a long time. And who the other three women were that shared his bed, than I did with the other thing. I didn't know about Joe. Joe was an open wound. I decided to speak the truth. Ranger has always been upfront with me; I needed to give him the same respect.

"Joe and I ended our relationship over 11 months ago." I said. "He wants someone who makes his life less complicated. I was apparently the complication. I let him go, Ranger. I did it for him. I am not going to tell you that I am completely over him, because that would be a lie, but something is happening between you and I, and I am not afraid of it. I don't think you should be either."

Ranger's mouth tweaked a little into a tiny smile, and he grabbed me and sat me on his lap, his arms around me, and he kissed me. "Who said I was afraid?"

The day started without us, Rangers phone went off for the 5th time, we were still making out in the shower, and he was ignoring it. When we finally emerged, there was no more hot water in the building. He checked his phone; texted something back and got dressed.

"Tank thinks I went AWOL, I've got get down there, and He had to reschedule one meeting already."

He threw on his clothes. Black on Black. Picked up his gun belt, and laced up his boots. I walked to the door with him, still in a towel. I was hungry, and I knew Ella would have left food for us. I picked up a piece of fruit and Ranger grabbed a bagel. He stopped for a moment and grabbed me and kissed me. Before I knew it, his gun belt dropped onto the floor and the bagel was gone, and so were most of his clothes. He backed me up against the wall, and pulled the towel from around me. Soon we were rolling around like a couple of high school kids not being able to stop ourselves. He screamed my name, and almost bit me.

We lay there catching our breath. "Shit." He had his hands in my hair, pulling at the wet curls. "What am I going to do with you; I can't keep my hands off you for two seconds anymore." I had a feeling he had missed another meeting. His phone was going off again.

"Come down stairs when you're ready. Today we need to deal with getting you out of trouble with the wrong crowd of people."

I got dressed, Made Ranger's bed so Ella wouldn't come into a disaster area, and cleaned up the kitchen. I was not that happy with someone else cleaning up after me. I wanted to make it as easy as possible. I dressed for Rangeman today, because I was going to be here, I wanted to fit in. Ella had left me clothes from other times I had been here, and they were still in Ranger's closet, next to his. I realized when I saw this, that he had kept me close to him, even if it was just clothing. It was a statement. I had put on a black short skirt and black t-shirt, all with Rangeman logos. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and did my make-up, and looked at myself in the mirror. "Welcome back, Stephanie. I said to myself. I went down to the 3rd floor, and walked in on a bunch of people rushing around. Ranger was with Tank, and Les had been waiting by the elevator.

"You need to come with me, now." Lester said and he pushed me back into the elevator and he hit "Basement 4" on the keypad. I didn't even know this building had a basement 3 much less a basement 4. He had to use a special keypad. I opened my mouth to ask what was happening and Les nodded his head.

"nu uh..shhhh."

He stood at attention, waiting for the elevator to travel down into the bowels and below the RangeMan building.

When the doors finally did open we were in some kind of underground bunker. I had no idea that you could get permits to do this in Trenton, I guess you learn something new every day.

He saw that I was looking around, confused..

"We bought this building from a very eccentric millionaire's family. He started building the underground sections in the early 1900's. He used it for a speakeasy, below us is a Tunnel that was used to smuggle illegal alcohol into the building. . They had underground bunkers built down here as bomb shelters during the 1940's and 50's. He was terrified Nazi's would win the war, and that he and his family would be killed. He was a little over the top. He passed away safe and happy that he never had to use his security rooms. Ranger found this building almost by mistake. We had chased someone into this building, it was in disrepair, and the city had it up for auction. After running through the damn thing, looking for the guy, we bought the building as soon as it went on the block. We use "Basement One" for the gym, "Basement 2" is the gun range, and "Basement 3" is the first safe room. He had permits for the first two. This one is not on any building schematics. No one knows about it. If you are really paranoid, which he was, there is a "basement 4." It's a bomb shelter and also has a "get away" Takes you to a tunnel that leads to the Sewer. We use 3 & 4 for "just in case" scenarios and training... mostly we store stuff down here. We have actually never used it for anything else. This is the first, and we've never used the Tunnel. I am hoping we will never need to."

"Ok," I said. Nice to have a history lesson once in a while about unusual New Jersey architecture. " but, what am I doing down here? What the hell is happening?"

"The FBI came to our door this morning. They are looking for you. Ranger doesn't think that it is a good idea for them to find you. They came back with a search warrant, so ... here we are."

"Why can't I just talk to them? I did nothing wrong, Lester. Maybe they just want an interview."

"Maybe, But we don't think you would be safe with them"

This was getting out of hand. "Les, do you have a phone I can use? I don't want to use mine. "

He gave me his phone, and I called Connie.

I filled her in a little about what was happening, told her we would fax over a complete report. I needed her to do me a huge favor, and I hoped it was not asking too much.

It had been two hours since I called Connie, Lester got a text. The FBI had left the building. Everything was secure. I called up and talked to Ranger. I told him about the call I had made. He told me he would be ready.

Connie called an hour later. I was pacing the floor as I talked to her. She said that she had what I needed, and to expect them at four. She also said I would owe her big time for this.

I was nervous. I felt like I was going to throw up. The room in basement four was closing in on me. I never thought I would be claustrophobic, but it was getting to me fast. I sat on the floor and put my head down.

It was 3:45. I was waiting with Ranger in a large conference room. At 4:05, The elevator doors opened, and Connie stepped out with five men. They were all in suits, and they all looked serious. Tall Italian men with black hair, not far from what you would expect from a movie about "the family", but a little more casual than scary.

Ranger was sitting with me at a table. No guns. The rule stated that all weapons were to be confiscated. We were meeting with New York's right hand man, and Connie's father. Her father was responsible for most of what happened in the underground of New York and Jersey.

Connie looked good. And she looked confident. Like this was going to work. They introduced themselves, then Connie's father looked at me. None of the other men spoke. I tried hard not to bite my lip.

"So this...This little girl is Stephanie Plum?" He was surprised. I don't know if that made me feel good, or really insulted.

Ranger leaned on to the table.

"Gentlemen, we have a problem." They turned their attention from me, thankfully to him. "You have had a good standing relationship with us, now; it is teetering on being dissolved. I don't want that to happen. I don't feel it would be in our best interest, or yours. What we would like is for you to tell us why Miss Plum has a contract out on her.

Connie stopped chewing her gum..

"There is a contact out on Stephanie? Are you shitting me?"

The man sitting next to Connie's father opened a briefcase and slid a single 8x10 photograph onto the table toward me.

I took it. It was a picture of a flash-drive no bigger than my pinky finger.

"Paul Banter AKA "the Weasel" left the Bandini Corporation with information that could be very bad for a lot of people." The man said. He had a heavy accent, Probably from Queens. "He had this information on this flash drive." He leaned back as he told the story. "He kept this fricken' flash drive with him at all times. Had it when he went into a witness protection program. The FBI didn't know about it. It was his safety net. It was on a key chain he kept with him. Looked like just a normal key chain, Kept his car and house key on the same one. We wanted it back, but as you know, he disappeared into the program. Nothing had ever come out about it., We assumed he lost it, or he was keeping it to screw us later...He had it up until Miss Plum picked him up, we know this because he hold us after much time interviewing him."

I thought back.. I remembered a key chain. I had locked Paul's door with it. Where was it now? My mouth had dropped and I was thinking hard, trying to remember what had happened over a year ago. The men in the room looked at me funny..

"What is she doing, is she ok?" Connie's Father looked concerned, and paranoid.

"I saw that key chain," I said out loud. "I locked his apartment with that key chain!" I looked around... "My bag! It might still be in there!"

I grabbed my purse, and dumped it out all over the table.

I had not cleaned my bag out in a long time, some people do, I had better things to do. Lately I hadn't needed to clean out my bag, mostly because I have had so many of them destroyed; I barely had enough time to break them in. But since being in Scottsdale, nothing had happened to it. On the table tumbled out empty chewing gum wrappers, old Kleenex, a piece of an old stale doughnut, a frosted flake, eyeliner that had crusted over, tampons, pads, perfume samples, Receipts by the dozen, Mace, pepper spray, a stun gun, handcuffs, a tracker from Ranger, and another from I am not sure, my wallet, a lost credit card, a key for a Volkswagen Scirocco and a set of keys that did not belong to me.

I picked them up and looked at them. These were not mine. There was toothpaste stuck to them. There was melted lipstick inside the memory stick, and it looked like it had gotten toasted in the sun from being in the car a few times to many. I looked at the older man

"Are these the keys?"

He looked at me with disbelief; then he looked at the pile of garbage and refuse on the table.

"You mean to tell me you have had those keys in that purse since you arrested Paul Banter, and you never knew it?"

Connie blew a bubble...

"Yep. That is what she is telling ya Uncle Phil."

I handed him the keys.. I didn't want them anyway. They probably made my purse heavy.

He looked at the keys in his hand; the flash-drive was burned and a little mangled. He laughed.

He got up, and started to leave.

"The hits will be canceled out. I will put the word out, ladies and gentlemen, And please, Stephanie...Clean out your purse more than once a year. That is disgusting."

Tank walked them back to the elevator. Uncle Phil turned to Ranger. "You know, I knew Salvatore. He may have been insane and eccentric, but having this building saved his ass and mine many times. I am glad that it has been restored." The elevator door closed and they were gone.

I looked at Ranger. He started to laugh. Connie was sitting next to him, and she started to laugh too...They both had their heads in their hands.. I have never seen either of them loose it before. I looked at the mess on the table, Geez.. I really did need to clean out my purse. I was hoping that the memo would hit the street and make everyone go home. I didn't think it was funny, I almost pee'd my pants when those men were at the table. I started picking up the mess in front of me.

"Geez, Stephanie," Connie said collecting herself. " I had no idea they had a hit out on you! That could have gone south in a hurry if you didn't have anything for them." I hadn't thought about that. Suddenly, I was grateful that my bag had been untouched.

I owed Connie big. There is no doubt about it. She asked me on the ride back up to the surface, if I could show her Rangers apartment. I knew she was curious to see what it looked like, just as I had been. Ranger was standing right there, she didn't even care, I looked at Ranger, and he just shrugged.

"Go.. Why not. I owe you too, Connie. Take your time, but no peaking in the secret drawer under my underwear."

He got off at three, and we continued up.

"He has a secret drawer?" She said looking at me with her eyes wide open.

I was almost positive he had been joking. Plus, I bet he was watching us to see if we would look.

We got up to the 7th floor. And keyed into the apartment. Ella had been here again. It was all clean and nice. No signs of this morning's activities, thankfully.

Connie Gasped. "Wow. Stephanie! This is really sumthin'. Holy Cow!"

She wandered through the rooms, checking out each one. She sat on his couch and looked in his refrigerator. "You know" She was saying.. "About that secret drawer. Do you think it is real? What would he have in there? Kinky stuff I bet." She said looking at me excited. "I think all men have secret drawers. It's where they put all the porno and stuff they don't want anyone to find." We both thought about that for a moment.

"He was pulling our chains, right?" She said.

I thought so, since he didn't wear underwear, but I didn't say that. It was too fun to wonder if there was a secret drawer.

She went into the bedroom.

"Holy Crap.. Look at this bed! The room smells like Ranger! Wow.. I want to live here. This is fantastic."

I went to the kitchen and got a plate with some cheese, crackers and fruit and sat down on the bed with her and looked around. I had to say, it was pretty fricken cool.

I took a bite of a cracker. "Thanks for getting me out of trouble, Connie. I can't believe it actually worked." I said

"Damn straight it worked. I told Uncle Phil if he didn't fix whatever was wrong, I wouldn't name my first born son after him. They had to cooperate. I had no idea it was a hit. Jesus, Stephanie. That's pretty nuts."

"There's actually two hits out on me." I said. "The weasel's hit never got called off either."

"Oh… Don't you worry about that one; they will take care of that. She said eating a piece of cheese. "That's easy. No one liked that guy, and now that he is dead, no one would get paid, not to worry. I will put the word out, too"

"So…." she said. "Tell me about Scottsdale. You didn't keep in touch like you said. Little e-mails saying "I miss you guys" is not keeping in touch!"

I ran through the eleven months of living with Vinnie... Then I told her about Janet, and how Vinnie and Janet had started the website about me. I told her about the break in, how I got shot and shot at, plus the punch I got to give Joyce, the plane rides and how Rangers men had give me an ultimatum, the cabin and the whole shebang.

She was sitting with me, and suddenly looked around. "Omigod. We are eating cheese and crackers on Rangers bed. That has to be a sin in his book or something. He is going to kill us!"

I shrugged. I was having fun. I would clean it up later.

I asked her about the office. What had happened, were they still going strong, and what was the plan now that I was back. She said that not only was the bonds office thriving, but also she had an excellent record for picking the criminals that were easy to catch or hardly a threat. There were lots of high bonds, but before she bonded any of them out, she always reminded them of who she was.. And amazingly enough, they had had very little skips.  
She said once in a while Ranger's men would pick something up, and Lula and Connie had hired a couple competent skip-chasers to help out. I was kind of floored.

"Wow, Connie.. Seems like the office runs itself".

"Yeah," she said.. "But it is not the same without you there. Lula is still Lula, but she will be away a lot more since Tank is around again. I guess they are getting serious. She is less bling, and has been power walking with me. She gets about half way around the block now!"

I was happy that things were doing well..

"You know.. She said. We miss you, and you can always come back. We still want you to partner with us, ya know."

I hugged her. She was a good friend. She looked at me as she put more cheese on her cracker.

"So.. You seen Joe?"

There it was... I took a drink of Ice Water and grabbed a piece of cheese before answering her.

"No...You?"

She took another bite of her cracker. "Have you seen your parents yet? Talked to Grandma Mazur?"

Why was I getting the feeling that there was all kinds of information that I needed to know.

"No...Why?"

"Hum..". And she ate more crackers.

We sat there in silence, her not knowing what she should divulge, and me pretending not to be that interested.

Whatever was happening, I wasn't all that ready to hear just yet, especially anything about Joe.

"Connie, I really appreciate what you did for me today. That was really something I will never forget."

She was down for some girl talk, I know she was.. She was eating another cracker, scooping up more cheese and looking around. Deciding what to say.

"So, uh Stephanie…What is going on here? We are eating crackers on Rangers bed, and you seem completely at ease with it. You knew what his maids name was, First name even! You knew where his underwear drawer was. You even have a key to his apartment. So Give... You owe me, I wanna know."

Just Then, Ranger walked in the room. Neither of us had heard him come in. He leaned on the door jam and raised his eyebrows, and crossed his arms across his chest.

"What are you two doing? Are those crackers on my bed?"

We both stopped chewing and stared. My heart racing. I was relieved I didn't have to say anything.

"Um.. Yeah, Stephanie," Connie said, standing up. "I'll talk to you later, Ok? I gotta go home..."

And she grabbed her bag and walked fast out of the apartment...

"Good seeing you Ranger"... and she left, closing the door behind her.

I got up and took the crackers in the kitchen. That was close.. I almost had to spill about our. Our what? I had no idea. And I had no idea what he had heard.

He walked up to me in the kitchen.

"You and Connie were having a "Girl" conversation on my bed... That has not happened since I lived at home.."

He grabbed the cheese that I had just put back in the kitchen, and the crackers and took it back into the bedroom and set it on the computer desk. He sat in the chair, eating some apples and cheese. He had a quizzical look on his face as he looked at me.

"You didn't look in the secret compartment, did you?"

He crunched another piece of apple.

"There is no secret compartment.. We looked."

He smiled.. "There is.. You just didn't find it."

I sat there and stared at him for a moment.

"No. no there isn't."

"Wanna Bet?"

He was having fun at my expense. He knew I was curious.

"What are we betting?" I was thinking money... he wasn't.

"If I am not lying, you have to stay with me tonight, I get to do whatever I want to you, and you can't object no matter how over the top kinky that it might be."

My mouth dropped.

"And If I am right?" And the likelihood of that...would be nadda..

"If there is no secret drawer then...He paused and put his legs up on the table, and smiled...

"Then. I think I would ask you to marry me."

He kept eating the apple slice. Then he took a piece of cheese and put it in his mouth, waiting for me to call his bluff. I just sat there, trying to read his mind, and of course, having no luck whatsoever.

I kept thinking… this is a trick. He wants me to bet him. He would win the bet and I would have to do all the kinky stuff. And he would know I was marriage hungry. Was I? I don't know... but he would THINK I was.

My eyes got really small and I looked at him suspiciously..

"What? ... You think that I am marriage hungry, and if I BET you, then you would get your way with me, and you would have your answer, that I was marriage hungry, and you would get scared off...even though I don't even know If I am marriage hungry."

"Its your call, Stephanie.. You decide."

I wonder how kinky he could get. It couldn't be all that bad, I was again, a mouse in a trap.

"No. I am not falling for that one. You are not going do your wizard thing and make me feel like I am a marriage hound. No. No Bet, No Deal."

"Suit yourself." He said walking into the kitchen. He poured both of us a glass of wine. He knew he had me. He knew this was eating me up inside. I looked at the drawers again. Debating. . He looked over at me.

"I know you want to bet me Stephanie, I can see it in your eyes. You think about it. I've got get back down stairs. If you're not ready to do this, I have to get out on the floor."

"I guess you better just get back to work."

"Ok.." he moved up next to me.. Pulled me close to him.. And looked into my eyes.. "I know it's killing you. This is kind fun." He smiled, wrapped his arms around me, and picked me up a little bit so we were face to face, and kissed me... Put me down, grabbed an apple from the kitchen, and took a sip of his wine and said. ..

"You should come down stairs with me. Maybe we could go look at the Glaskil building tonight."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**I love working with Ranger. Designing security systems would be a challenge. I had somehow managed to squeeze myself out of another tight spot, but I didn't know how long that kind of luck would hold out. I grabbed an apple and we rode the elevator down to three. Before the doors opened, Ranger pulled me to him,wrapped his arms around my waist and slid his hands under my shirt. **

**"Let me know when you are ready to make that bet." He said as his lips brushed mine. My heart was pounding. All I could think about was where his hands were. ****He let go of me and smiled as he walked out on to the floor of Rangeman. ****Ranger was in control. Play was over. Everyone now motivated to get the night into gear.**

**I pretended it wasn't a big deal, but it loomed in my subconscious like a little scary morsel of information. No way would Ranger ask me to marry him, so there **_**had**_** to be a secret compartment. Was Connie right? Was there kinky stuff in that drawer? What would that be exactly? Being Ranger, What would he think is actually kinky? It was killing me. ****  
**

**I have worked on the third floor countless times. Usually when night-time came, I went home. For now, this **_**was**_** my home. I walked over to the cubicle I was most familiar with. When I had worked for Rangeman; Ranger would give me menial tasks when I needed extra money. When I was on the payroll he did a pretty good job of not getting too close to me. I was an employee. He had willpower that I would never have.**

**Rangeman took the entire third floor of the building. The walls were steel-blue and the carpet was gray and industrial. Office cubicles were on the right and the rest of the floor dedicated to monitoring equipment. Long desks lined the windows, large computer monitors hung in unison, four up and ten across. There were five employees watching these monitors and talking to guards and writing up reports. The monitors would change every few moments to other locations. The left side of the room was another section of computers with the same set up as the first. In the middle of the room the floor supervisor watched the screens and worked on his iPad. Ranger stood next to him,earpiece in, talking to one of the patrols.**

**I sat down at the desk. I was curious about what the FBI wanted from me, and I really wanted to know if they were the ones who shot at me in Scottsdale. Not that I thought they would give that kind of information away, but I was going to ask. Now that my life wasn't in extreme danger, I wanted to set up a meeting with them. I checked my bandage on my leg. The wound still hurt, and the pain medication I had taken was wearing off. I went to the break room and got a half turkey club and some coffee and went back to the cubicle. Last time I was in dire need of a paycheck, I ran searches, ****background checks, and did basic data entry for Ranger and the rest of the company for projects they were working on. You had to keep on top of it, or it would pile up. Whoever took over for me was doing a terrible job. The inbox on the desk was overflowing with paperwork that needed completing. I turned on the computer and logged into Rangeman. I started working on the searches that were the oldest. I looked over at Ranger. It looked to me like he had his hands full. No way would we be going to see that building tonight. He was immersed in wizardry. **

**Ten employees were working tonight. During the day, the office was in full operation, the night was all about monitoring, answering false alarms or sending people out to locations to check on problems. I was working on the fifth search when Ranger came over to the cubicle. **

"**That's not your job." he stood next to me, and picked up one of the files and opened it. **

"**You were busy doing your wizard thing. Plus, I am on my fifth one." **

**His eyes cut to the growing pile of unfinished work that was on the desk, and he dropped the file back on the stack.**

"**I'll be right back." **

**I continued with the search, but the office had turned from quiet movement, to commotion. I looked over the partition and saw that there were at least a dozen people talking to Ranger. They stood in a semi-circle and I saw the floor manager scratch his head and go through his iPad looking for something. He did not look happy. Either did Ranger. He looked over at me, walked into his office, and picked up the phone. Moments later, he walked back to the cubicle. **

"**I need to go and check on one of my employees. Come with me. Maybe we will get to see the building tonight after-all." **

**We took the stairs, and motored out of the lot before he spoke again. **

"**No one has seen Edward Montoya for a week. No one even bothered to find out why he hadn't shown up for work. I leave, and see what happens?" **

**His phone buzzed.. He looked at the display, and put it down. It buzzed again. He looked at it, and put it down. It buzzed a third time, and he turned it off. **

**Ranger was quiet. A concerned look was on his face. Rangeman was personal to him, and the men who worked there were family. I had found out just how close the team was when Ramon confronted me at the Dojo. I wondered silently about the messages that kept coming up on his phone. This was not the time or place for me to ask questions, so I kept my trap shut, but my mind was moving towards the conversation about the "other women".**

"**I hired this kid over a year ago." Ranger said. His eyes focused on the road as he spoke. We were moving away from Trenton and heading towards Newark. "He is smart and he is good with computers, but he's young. I gave him the research desk, like we do all new hires."**

"**How come no one noticed he wasn't at work?" **

"**When you log into your computer, it is like a punch card. It monitors the employee's time by the code you enter. I plan on having a conversation with the computer tech to find out just how his absence went unnoticed for this long. Usually an alert will come up telling the floor manager if someone doesn't show up for their shift. Somehow the alert didn't come up. There's a lot I need to talk to the techs about. As the company grows, so do the problems."**

**Edward Montoya lived in one of the nicer apartment building in Newark. We parked near a street light, and peered out at the four-story brick building in front of us. The street was well-lit; it was a large square building with concrete steps, and a security code box at the door. **

"**He is on the fourth floor." Ranger said as we walked across the street towards it.**

**I looked over at his Porsche. This wasn't exactly a good neighborhood to leave a tempting piece of candy unattended.**

"**What about the car? Will it be here when we get back?" **

**Cars had a tendency to disappear when I was around. I didn't think he needed to take any unnecessary risks. I had good luck since being back, why push it?**

"**No one around here would dream of stealing that car." He said.**

"**Oh yeah? Why's that?"**

"**Because, this is my neighborhood. They know better." **

**There were concrete steps that led to a wrought iron gated entry with a security keypad. Names were written on small plastic plates next to buttons with apartment numbers. **

"**Maybe he just found a better job?" You ever think of that? "**

"**Edward Montoya is my hire, out of my neighborhood. He had wanted to work for Rangeman since he was sixteen and we started the company. I wouldn't hire him until he cleaned up his act, and finished school. He wouldn't just find another job." **

"**So, you feel responsible for him?" **

"**Something like that." **

**I watched as Ranger keyed a code on the keypad. **

"**You know the security code?"**

"**Babe, there isn't a lot I don't know." **

**I rolled my eyes. **

**There were stairs to the right of the door. I followed Ranger up. He got to the fourth floor. Ranger stopped and looked down at me. **

**I was behind him, but still one flight below. He raised his eyebrows. **

"**What?! I said, Panting. "My leg hurts still. Geez . Give me a break."**

**My leg wasn't hurting all that bad, I needed to get back to running in the mornings to save face. **

**There was a cement walkway in front of each apartment. A railing looked out over a small pathway with partially green, partially dead grass that separated one side of the complex from the other. It was late. Kids were in bed. Dishes washed, and televisions were on as people caught up with their favorite shows and nightly news. **

**Edward Montoya's apartment was a corner unit. ****Apartment 4a was** next to the stairwell. His door was painted light blue and matched the rest of the doors in the apartment building. There was a light on, and from where I was standing, I had a good view of his living room from a slit in the white curtains. Ranger knocked on the door. I saw a part of a running shoe. It was attached to a leg. The leg didn't move when he knocked. I didn't think this was a good sign. 

"**Ranger" I said, and motioned to the window. **

**He walked over and looked through the curtains, then broke down the door. Edward must have been dead for at least a couple of days. He didn't look all that good, and he smelled even worse. I noticed why we couldn't smell him until we opened the door. Someone had put towels around the door frame and turned on his window air unit to keep him from heating up and decomposing quicker. It was freezing in the room. Dried white foam still clung around his mouth. I think he might have ingested something bad. I covered my mouth and my nose and walked out of the apartment fast, trying to breathe something besides death. **

**Ranger backed out after me and threw the phone in my direction. ****I called 911, and waited. ****It took the police and ME an hour to get there. ****Ranger used the time to call in to Rangeman, and then walked away to call Edward's family. They arrived soon after the police did. Ranger quietly spoke in Spanish to Edward's distraught mother. The rest of his family stood next to her looking shell-shocked, staring at the open door. Neighbors in the apartment complex stood around watching the events unfold. No one likes death cooties. It looked to me like it could have been a suicide, except for the air-conditioning and the towels. That was suspicious. Edward was young. It didn't seem fair at all that his life might have been taken from him before it really began.**

**A detective for the Newark Police Department had taken our statements, and told us he would be in touch. I watched as the body bag descended down the stairs to the Medical Examiner's car. Edward's family followed behind in grieving silence. The apartment was still open except for crime scene tape that placed over the front door. Police were not ruling out foul play, but the general feel for the scene was suicide. It isn't all that uncommon for someone to stuff towels around doors and turn on the air to keep from being found; but it didn't sit well with me. **** Ranger said Edwards's mother was worried about him. He has been depressed, and stopped taking his medication a few weeks ago. He quit calling home soon after that. She said that he would slip into depression every once in a while, but he always snapped out of it. He had never been suicidal.**

"**Come on. Let's go." Ranger said, and he took my hand. ****It was after 1am.** We walked back down the stairs, but instead of heading to the car, Ranger walked the opposite direction. There was a small park with a basketball court surrounded by grass and three cement picnic benches. The benches covered in gang symbols and half-hearted carvings. He sat on the table and looked up at the apartment building. This wasn't a quiet neighborhood. I could hear sirens in the distance, dogs barking and occasionally gunshots. Somewhere off in the distance a helicopter with a searchlight was looking for someone.

"**I grew up coming to this park." Ranger said. "This was my park. I was a little troublemaker hoodlum here. When I looked at Edward's job app, and saw where he lived, I took a closer look. His school records were pretty clean, and he was at the top ten percent of his class. He was interested in law enforcement, wanted to join the Army but couldn't because he had been treated for depression. He had a good family life, and just looked like a great hire. I wanted to give him a chance to prove himself. I wasn't aware he was having problems."**

**I could have said the classic lines like, "you can't fix everyone" or,"you can't control what happens to everyone" or, "it's not your fault." I played them in my head, and none of those lines really seemed like something I needed to say. ****Instead, I just took his hand, and sat down next to him. What can you say to someone? "I'm sorry for your loss?" I hated that line. It never seemed appropriate, and it never fit. I felt it was like trying to put a square peg into a huge gaping round hole. **

**Ranger looked at me for a long moment. Watching me, deep in thought. His eyes held mine. **

"**There was no secret compartment, Stephanie."**

**My heart skipped a beat, I was lost. What was he saying to me? **

**Ranger stood up, and brushed himself off. **

"**Come on. He said. Let's go. We should get back."**

**I didn't follow him. I couldn't move. Ranger was already across the park when he noticed. He stopped and waited for me. ****In my mind, I had a lot of moments, just like most girls' do. Fantasies of a perfect person or a perfect place in time where your life would change. Most girls had visions of white stallions and young princes who whisked them away because they could no longer live without them. A love that was so great and so strong, that nothing could stop it from happening. I have moments where I wanted to be that girl. Wanting to be so loved and so needed, that the love story lived. Real life doesn't move to that beat. Girls are born with the need to couple with another. It was human. It was nature. It was our bodies telling us to find a mate and reproduce. All mammals had that continuing urge. We as people don't think it applies to us, but in the end, it always does. Love stories are few and far between. But sometimes, I wonder if there could be a reality to it all. ****I also knew that Ranger would be the very last one to ever be part of that type of scenario. It wasn't fair if he was playing with my emotions, and making me want something he could not give. It was cruel, and suddenly, I was angry he had said it.**

**Ranger continued to look at me. Finally, he walked over and sat back down, looking at his hands. ****We just sat there in silence. Finally I glanced over at him.**

"**You need to stop playing games with me. It hurts." **

**He took a deep breath. "I am not playing games, Stephanie. If you had called my bluff, I would have proposed to you. Are you coming or not? This place is not safe after the police go home."**

**It was hard to catch my breath, but I didn't have time to absorb what was just put on the table. Ranger grabbed my hand and was pulling me along, walking fast, holding it tight. ****There were some kids that were coming towards us, when they saw Ranger, they got out-of-the-way but said something in Spanish.**

**"Que' valoras tu vida?" **

**Ranger mumbled something back, and we left.**

**I was running to keep up with him. "What did you say to them?" **

"**They asked me if I valued my life, I told them, not as much as they valued their balls. Let's get out of here before they change their minds."**

**We drove back to RangeMan. Both of us silent. I didn't know what to say. On the 3****rd**** floor, Ranger called a meeting, informing every one of what happened. He was angry with the entire office. They had all failed to pay attention to what was going on around them. He called the entire Rangeman workforce. Woke most of them up. Everyone was working overtime to get the reports finished. If they failed to come in, they would be fired. We each took a pile, including me, and worked on them until the sun came up. I was exhausted. ****Since we had gotten back from New Mexico, I hadn't had a chance to get anything done I needed to do, especially if I wanted to live outside Rangeman's gravitational force. I was still in limbo. I fell asleep in Rangers bed, waking up when another day was ending. Ranger was there with me. He must have come in sometime during the day. He had passed out with his clothes still on. He never slept with clothes on. He was out cold.**

**I took a shower and got dressed. I didn't want to think too much about what Ranger had said. I wasn't sure how I felt about it for one thing. The problem was, I think I was falling for it. Hook, line, and sinker. I could feel myself get all mushy and have those terrible "love" feelings that always screwed up your judgment and made you do stupid things, like take nude pictures of yourself. Things like that never are a good idea. Instead of thinking to hard about being a big dummy about love and stupid stuff, I decided to think about something else. For one thing, I didn't know if I should wear my Kevlar vest anymore. Did I want to just walk out on the street without protection? What if some yo-yo didn't get the memo that Stephanie Plum was not a target anymore? Then there's the other yahoos that may want to shoot me just because of the stupid website. I decided to wear the vest,the gun and bring my pepper spray. Connie had already told me that everything was A-OK and the Tool guy was after someone else the entire time,and not me. That was a relief. Everyone was happy in Mafialand, and according to her Uncle, they would have a great story to tell about women and their pocketbooks. It would keep them laughing for a long time. **

**One thing I was happy about was that my Jeep had arrived today. Thank you Ramon! I took a look inside. I was almost positive that under the front seat would be some sort of weapon. It was washed, and a new alarm system with paperwork was sitting on the front seat. I knew from experience that my Jeep was also now officially programmed into Rangeman and would have a tracking device armed and ready to go. I hoped I could keep this one from blowing up. I would be really disappointed if my jeep exploded. I motored over to my parents. My mother was at the door when I drove up. She was alone. **

"**Where's Grandma?" I said following her into the kitchen. Something was different.**

**"She lives at the new retirement community Shady Acres. ****I told you about all of this six months ago, Stephanie. You never listen to me. She only comes over for dinner on Sunday."**

**I said hi to my Dad. He was sitting in his recliner, reading the paper while the television blared away in the background.**

"**Without your grandmother here, it gets too quiet". She said. "I think I need a hobby".**

**"You could tell her you miss her." **

**"No she can't", My dad piped in, yelling across the house."This is the first quiet six months I have had since your mother got pregnant with Valerie". **

**My mom looked dismayed.**

**"What's for dinner?" I said looking for something,anything that looked like it resembled food cooking. **

"**I didn't make dinner. We never have a big dinner anymore." **

**I knew something was different! No dinner! No oven going, no comforts of home warmth from the stove, no good smells. This was terrible. A travesty. ****I was shocked. My eyebrows raised in disbelief. My eyes got big. I was counting on dinner. I had looked forward to it. I dreamed about the normalcy that was home. There had to be some law she was breaking in the mother book. I was hungry.**

"**No dinner?"**

"**Well, I thought we could go buy something. I didn't make dessert either. Without Grandma here, we don't need that much food." **

**I wouldn't panic. No dessert? Could this be an alternate Universe? **

**Just then I heard car doors shut and a lot of arguing and yelling. Grandma Mazur came barreling into the house, followed by no other than Grandma Bella. They had on matching light pink track suits with the words, "juicy" written out on the butt. Both had pink hair to match. They looked like poodles. They were arguing over who had the smallest behind, and shouting about playing by the rules. When they got in the door, Grandma Mazur saw me.  
**

"**Stephanie! Your mother told me you were coming over! I have so much to tell you! Ellen, where is the food? Are you not making dinner anymore?" **

**It was like letting in a whirlwind. The house was back to normal. The Universe had righted itself in my mind. Grandma would fix it. **

**My mom grabbed her shoulder bag. "Stephanie. Come on, we have to go buy food." **

**When we got outside, she said "I called your sister too. I wanted a full house tonight.I had to pretend I didn't, for your father." **

**My mom actually missed the craziness. I did too. Once it is part of your life, it's just not the same without it.**

**We drove to Sal's. On the sly, my mother ordered enough food to feed three families. We walked out with boxes and bags. She said she was on the phone to Sal's the moment I called. **

**"Your father," She said. "he won't admit it, but life is just not as exciting without the house in chaos."**

** We got back to the house. Albert's car was parked at the curb. We carried everything inside. Val, and her growing family had arrived. My sister came up and gave me a big hug. **

**"You have to tell me all about Scottsdale, Stephanie. I heard that it was so hot there this summer, paint started to melt off cars!"**

** Before I could tell her that I hadn't seen anything that dramatic, she whispered in my ear that she had a surprise. She was pregnant again. I looked over at her Two month old baby boy and her two-year old daughter and wondered how many kids she would pop out before they were through with the herd. I hugged her. Me, I didn't know if I even wanted one, much less a dozen. Maybe I could just borrow one of hers once in a while when I felt maternal. I think she would have enough for the both of us. **

** Grandma and Bella were at the computer looking up websites of naked men. My father had retreated into the bathroom for some privacy. Mary Alice was cantering around the kitchen table, practicing at being a horse, and Angie was coloring pictures of princesses. The whole house was pure nuts. I found out Albert had joined a law firm. He had advertisements on television. He may have been an ambulance chaser, but he was great at selling himself. His business was growing, and so was the family. **

**I had successfully stayed out of Grandma Bella's tractor beam for an entire hour. Grandma Mazur and Bella were strangely fascinated by the internet. Then, it happened. I was caught in her radar. She saw me. I started to panic. Grandma Bella scared the crap out of me. She had visions, and there was a twenty percent chance that what she saw would come true. When it came to me, the visions were scary and about death and destruction. What was worse, some of those visions came a little too close to coming true. This time, she smiled and came over to me. **

**"Stephanie Plum. How are you?" **

**She never talked this way to me. I held my breath, waiting for her wrath to come boiling out. **

"**I am so happy you finally let my Joey go. He is much happier now that he and Trisha are engaged. The curse is over, I can feel it. My visions are happy now". Then she picked up a wine glass and downed it. **

**I was eating a piece of roast chicken; I inhaled when she said that. The chicken lodged in my throat and I started to choke. Albert smacked me on the back and chicken flew though the air, landing on the lampshade. I picked it up quickly so no one would see. Was it true? Engaged? Joe was engaged? I really didn't feel all that well anymore. I think I was starting to get a headache. It took me a good twenty minutes to gather myself back together and walk into the living room again. If I was a smoker, I would have taken that time to go sit on the back stoop and light up. Engaged. Someone named Trisha? Engaged? Holy crap. That was it. Joe was officially taken. No more Joe. No more flirting. No more making up. Shit. **

**Both Grandma and Bella had been drinking wine. Grandma was already on her third glass. My mother was hitting the sauce and actively trying to stay in the kitchen, probably thinking, "Why did I want this back in my life?" My father grumbled as another of his favorite T.V. programs was interrupted, ruined by family. Grandma was over next to the computer, still looking at websites and gazing at men's behinds.**

"**Stephanie! Come over here, quick!" She said excitedly.**

**I managed to take a very deep breath, gather myself back together to walk over to the computer, only to be greeted with my very own impending doom. The website I thought had been taken down was still there. More videos than before broadcast out at us from the monitor, this time not of me. They were of other people pretending to be me. I scanned down the page and found a hotline number, a chat-line, downloads, t-shirts, autograph pictures, and a book that was coming out. I had a fricken' fan club! This was going beyond rational. I had to curb Vinnie and Joyce. So I decided to hire Albert. ****I walked him over to the computer, and showed him the website. I told him what had been happening. He was very interested. Joyce was responsible, and she was rich, too. It could turn into a big case, I told him. This would be my chance to get back at Joyce without even hitting her. He told me he would look into it, but it wasn't really his field of expertise. I encouraged him enough to let me keep him on retainer. **

**Dinner was happily normal for our family. Mary Alice still thinks she is a horse, She was learning how to jump hurdles, and she wanted her room painted like a horse stall. She did decide people food would be ok to eat. Her best friend Debbie had told her so. **

**"I am going to be in the talent show at school." She said proudly. " We will be jumping hurdles and galloping around. I even made my own saddle."**

**My sister tried to hide a grimace. But I saw it before she wiped it away with a proud smile. I don't think Valerie understood Mary Alice all that much. I thought she was great. Maybe I should learn how to canter. **

**Grandma and Bella told everyone how they had gotten a group of seniors together and on Friday night they all skinny dip at the pool. I noticed Grandma was on her fourth glass of wine. I watched my mother as she took the bottle off the table and hide it under her chair. I still was having a hard time understanding how Grandma and Bella ever decided to live together. One thing for sure, they would need a ride home. **

**It was after 10pm by the time we had the dishes done and everything cleaned up. My sister said she needed to get home. She had eaten too much pineapple upside down cake and it was late for the kids to still be awake on a school night. I hugged both her and Albert, congratulating them again, and walked them out. As they drove off, I heard a thunk. I ducked, knowing it could be a bullet. Then I heard cackling laughter. Bella and Grandma were snookered. They were outside throwing rocks at cars and hiding. What! Oh no. This was not good. The phone started ringing in the house. I could hear my mother talking to one of our neighbors. I heard sirens in the distance. Someone probably called the police.**

**I knew it was only a matter of time before Grandma would need bailing out if she stayed at Shady Acres. I piled both her and Bella in the Jeep. I just needed to figure out where to take them. I didn't want to deliver them to the retirement apartments when they were out of control. Security would call the police on them for sure. **

**I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Joe. It was instinct. I was surprised not only that I remembered the number, but that it was such an involuntary move. I could already hear sirens getting closer. Not good. **

**As the phone rang, my nerves jumped. This was going to be awkward. I had not spoken to him in over a year. He was engaged according to Bella. There was a recording for his cell phone. I tried his pager; it was now a phone number for someone named Stanley. I dialed his home number. The phone picked up after two rings. A woman answered. I was stunned. I took a deep breath, I asked for Joe. **

"**No, I am sorry. He is at work." She said sweetly. "Is there something I can help you with?"**

"**Do you know his cell phone number or pager or something? His old numbers don't work anymore."**

"**I am sorry, that's private information." She continued "Unless you could tell me what this was about, I am not about to tell you anything." **

"**Boy, you're a pistol." **

"**What!?" she screamed at me through the phone . **

**Oops, I had said that out loud? **

**Grandma Bella was in the front seat, buckled in. She had found a radio station she wanted. Rap music boomed through the speakers making it hard to hear the person on the phone. **

**I yelled another approach, trying to turn the radio down. Bella slapped my hand. **

"**Can you at least call him, and tell him to call this number back?" I said trying to get a handle on Grandma Bella. She was trying to put the eye on me now, and Grandma Mazur was trying to distract her. "It's sort of an emergency."**

"**An Emergency?" She sounded reproachful. "What is this about?"**

"**Joe's ****Grandma Bella is kind of drunk, and needs a ride." Geez. I thought. I couldn't believe this was happening. **

"**I am sure your mistaken," she said doughty. "His grandmother is a lovely lady, and she doesn't drink."**

**Grandma Mazur took a sip from something in her pocket. I turned and grabbed it. **

**I started the Jeep, and took off. **

"**Just hurry and call him. I said as we turned the corner. I don't know where to take them! "**

"**Who is this! " **

**I hung up. She was impossible. Joe must have his hands full with that one. **

**I couldn't drive them home like this. I couldn't leave them with my parents. I also couldn't drive them around much longer, either. Bella was hanging out the window, yelling at people. I needed to get them off the street. There was no way I was taking them to Rangeman, and my sister didn't need this right now. So I took a deep breath and drove over to Joe's. I made them promise to stay in the car, and I ran up to the porch. The front door flew open. I stopped short. I couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't breathe. The woman standing defiantly in front of me was very pretty. She was in Joe's house, and Bob was there. He saw me, and ran, knocking me to the ground. Getting slobber everywhere. **

"**Hi Bob!" I said, trying to get back up.**

**I pointed to the Jeep, as I struggled with the huge orange dog beast that was licking me to death. **

"**Please.. Call.. Joe!" I yelled. "This is turning into a nightmare! They've already caused property damage at my parent's house." **

**I was trying to keep Bob from slobbering all over my face and he was winning. I tried to continue talking as I pushed him away, he pushed me down again. **

**"Listen!" I said struggling to get up. "I can't bring them to Shady Acres. I'm afraid they would get kicked out." I screamed. "For God's sake! They will throw up in my Jeep. I'll never get it clean! And Get Bob off of me!"**

"**Shit.. Ok." She said and dialed a number, spoke softly into the phone, and hung up. She shrugged her shoulders and said "Okay. He's coming home." She pulled Bob off me. **

"**I'm Trisha." She said as she helped me up.**

**"Stephanie." I said shaking her hand trying to catch my breath as I pulled grass, dirt and slobber out of my hair.**

**She looked at me again and said, "Of course you are."**

**I glared at her. "What is that suppose to mean?" **

"**Nothing." She did some eyeball rolling thing. **

**The Grandmas were on the ground now, lying there looking at the stars, and Trisha and I were sitting on the porch. She had dark brown hair pulled up into a ponytail. She was tall and thin and very pretty, in a girl next door kind of way. **

**"I knew I would have to meet you eventually." She said "I just didn't realize that it would be like this". **

**I still didn't know what to say, I felt like she was in my space. Joe's house was personal. Agh. But it wasn't anymore. I struggled with it as we sat there. **

"**I heard stories about you." She said. "They seemed impossible. Looking at just what happened tonight, I think I changed my mind. Did you really blow up Stiva's Funeral home, and destroy that many cars?" She said laughing.**

"**Pretty much." I said. "But it has petered off. Pretty soon, maybe, it won't happen at all". **

**She laughed "Yeah-good luck with that one. Every time we have football Sunday here, all the boys talk about you. It is annoying. But now that I met you, I can see that it probably caused a lot of problems."**

"**Yeah." I said as Joe pulled up in his truck. "Like being called a walking disaster."**

**Joe walked over. He looked good. Frighteningly good. I thought back to when I lived here with him, woke up next to him, had good wild and crazy sex with him. I had to push the thoughts away. He checked on his Grandmother, and eyeing us suspiciously he walked up. I could actually see panic on his face. It was kind of insulting. He looked at Bella on the grass again, and Trisha and I having one on one time.**

"**Please tell me Stephanie is not recruiting you into the world of chaos. I would just have to shoot myself in the foot." **

**She barked out a laugh, I stared at her in disbelief. What was so wrong with my life? **

"**No way." She said getting up. "I try to keep distance from walking disasters." **

"**You heard that one, huh?" He looked at me and smiled. "Stephanie, this is Trisha. She is a criminologist from Newark." **

**I shook her hand, nice to be introduced. "We met." I said, still shaking her hand. **

"**Trisha, can you give me about ten minutes? I need to talk to Stephanie." Joe said.**

"**Bob needs to go for a walk anyway. Take your time." She kissed him, looked at me with a warning glare and left. **

**When she was out of ear shot, he started in on me. He didn't even bother with "welcome back" or "nice to see you."**

**He stared at me.**

"**What are you doing here?"**

**I looked over at Grandma Bella and Grandma Mazur, suddenly feeling stupid that I brought them here. **

"**No." He said. "What are you doing in Trenton? And more specifically, out on the street at night? Are you looking to get killed?" **

**He touched the Kevlar vest. "I suppose you are carrying concealed now too, right?"**

**I glared at him. **

"**The hits have all been called off. I'm in the clear. Things weren't working out in Scottsdale. I came back." **

"**If the hits were called off, Stephanie, why the vest?" His arms crossed in front of him.**

"**Just in case." I said defiantly. **

**Joe looked down. Clearly trying to be alright with it. **

"**Ok. What the hell happened? Why is my Grandmother and your Grandmother drunk and passed out in my front yard? And how did it even come about that they decided to live together? My mother is freaking out over this. The whole family is in a state because she is not only dating, but also going to strip clubs." Joe said, trying to get a grip on the situation. He put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground. **

"**Trisha doesn't really know about my family history. I was sort of trying to keep it from her. She thinks my family is great." **

"**I heard you were engaged." I said. **

**He looked up. "Yeah, it sorta just happened." **

**So it was true. It hurt my heart to hear him say that he had moved on. But I tried not to think about it . **

"**You shouldn't start your life with lies, Joe. Tell her the truth, or you will regret it."**

**"What? Tell her my Grandmother is a nutcase? That my brothers and I were complete assholes, deviants and delinquents and that they all run around on their wives? Great advice, Stephanie." **

**Joe paused for a moment, staring at the ground. **

"**Shit. I suppose it really wouldn't matter." **

"**D****o you love her?"**

**He looked at me for a moment. "Yeah. I do." **

"**Then you should be honest with her."**

**I hugged myself. I was afraid I would lose my dinner if I sat here any longer. **

**He looked at me for a long moment, and smiled. **

**"You look good, Stephanie. Arizona was good to you. Stand up."**

**Standing up still was a little painful. My leg was not fully back, and I limped a little. I tried not to let it look as bad as it felt. For some reason I was trying to be tough. I didn't think it was working.**

"**I can tell your leg hurts, stop trying to hide it." He said. "I can't believe you got shot again. You are going to get killed one of these days, Cupcake." **

**He was still staring at me. Wheels were turning in his brain. His smile faltered. **

"**You're seeing Ranger." His eyes narrowed. "He didn't just go get you. You're sleeping with him. Son of a bitch!" **

**It was none of his business who I slept with****. Why did he care who I was seeing?****  
**

"**Fuck, are you kidding me?" He continued. Clearly agitated. "Why can't you be seeing someone safe, like a serial killer?" **

"**Well.." I said, getting a little pissed off that he was acting this way. "Look at you! You went off and got engaged!" I blurted out. "And, she's beautiful!" **

**We both just stared at each other. **

**One thing I did know. Someone else had his heart now.. I could see it in his eyes. **

"**Okay.****" He said. Realizing that no one was going to win this battle. We both had made our own beds, and neither of them together. **

"**What are we going to do about them?" He said, looking over at the Grandmas. "We need to get them at least a little sober."  
**

**We both picked them up and got them into the house. Letting them lean on us as they both talked about men and other things that I did not care to know about. We made them drink some coffee and water. **

**Ranger called as we had them on their second cup of coffee. I knew that he wasn't the most trusting soul, especially when it came to Joe. Not only did he have a tracker on my car but probably in my bag as well. He also had a strange sixth sense when it came to me. **

"**Yo," he said. "Your car is at Morelli's, and police were called to your parents address. You okay?"**

"**Yeah, I am. Thanks. Can you come over? I need help getting Grandma home." **

**I wanted Ranger to trust me; I thought this was the only way to do it. He drove up to Morelli's just as Trisha walked Bob back up the drive. **

**When Trisha saw Ranger, she flushed. When Ranger saw Trisha, he smiled and walked over to us. **

"**Trisha." He said. "This is interesting." **

**Joe looked at Ranger.**

"**What am I missing here?" **

"**Not a thing. " But he laughed when he said it. **

"**Trisha went to school with my little sister, Carmen." **

**Ranger was still watching her. He looked completely surprised. **

**What the heck was going on? Joe and I were both lost to what was happening in front of us. **

**Trisha's cheeks were red. She turned to Joe.**

"**Carlos and I know each other from the neighborhood. Don't we?" Trisha said smugly.**

**Ranger's phone went off and he answered a page and said, "Yep". As an afterthought. **

"**Listen." He looked at me. "Where do you want to take Grandma Mazur? The coast is clear at your parents. Do you want to take her there?" **

**I was trying hard not to notice the tension in the air. Trisha stood silently next to Joe with her arms crossed. She was apparently in a situation that she was uncomfortable with, Joe was confused, and I was too. We were all at a standstill. Ranger was pretending like whatever was happening had nothing to do with him. We were all in some kind of holding pattern. No one willing to speak. **

**I fumbled for an answer to his question. **

"**Um, Yeah." I said. "You'll have to help me get her in the Jeep."**

"**I'll put her in the Porsche, but she better not pinch me. You drive it, and I will follow in your Jeep.**

**He cut his eyes to Trisha. **

**"Good to see you, Trisha. You look good." He said smiling. **

**He turned to Joe. "You need any help with Bella?" **

"**No." He said. "We're good."**

**I could tell Joe was pissed. He was eyeing Ranger with contempt. **

**I think there was a good chance he was figuring out that not only was I seeing Ranger, but that his current girlfriend had history with him also. **

"**Congratulations, Joe." Ranger said. "Trish is a really good woman. I know you guys will be happy." **

**He used the million dollar smile, and was texting, not paying attention to what fire was still being thrown at him as he walked over and got into the Jeep. I got behind the wheel of the Porsche and drove away with Ranger following.**

**I looked in the rear view mirror as we drove away. Joe had Bella in the car and Trisha was helping him. I thought they looked good together. I was actually hoping I didn't fuck it up.**

**We got to my mother's house, and dropped off Grandma. My mother had told the police that they had no idea who was throwing rocks. Must have been kids. **

**Ranger was waiting for me by the car. Grandma was well on her way through the second round of _100 Bottles of Beer_ before the door closed and I was free to go. I told Ranger about the website and how I decided to hire Albert to look into it for me.**

"**You know his slogan on T.V. is "Don't mess with the Kloughn." You think he can help you?"**

**"It's possible." I said. (Well, maybe.) **

"**It's your call." He said, and I followed him over to the Porsche. **

**He turned to me. "You just find out about Joe being engaged tonight?" **

**I nodded, and looked down. He put his hand on my chin picking it back up to look at him. "You okay?"**

"**Yeah. I'm okay." I said smiling. "So," I said. "Trisha?"**

**He nodded, "She was one of the three. I Hadn't seen her in over a year. I had no idea she would hook up with Morelli. He is a good guy, good for her."**

**Ranger put his hands in his pockets and looked out into the night. "We still haven't walked through the Gatskil Building." He said, "You up to checking it out tonight? We've put it off. I would like to do the walk through without employees, and this is a good time." **

**I needed to get my mind off what had happened tonight. My grandmother was acting like a juvenile; Joe was engaged to Ranger's…Ranger's what? Booty Call? Wow. **

**Ranger called and set everything up with the team and with the owners of the building. We drove over and parked next to one of Rangeman's SUV's. From a distance, we could see the building with a greater perspective. The parking lot had a security guard in a booth. Entrance and exits had drop down bars, stopping each car. The Gaskil building had 12 stories and an underground parking garage. It was set apart from other buildings with a large parking lot and grassy areas meant to be pleasing to the eye. **

**We drove in, and ****met at the front security gate. They had a single security guard for the front entrance lane. He watched the entire parking lot and was responsible for walking the perimeter every hour. He said he was the only night guard. No vehicle security was assigned to the building. There was one main entrance in the front, one maintenance entrance on each side and a back entrance with a loading dock and back stairwell. The loading dock had a door that led into the main hallway and from there, access to the stairs and the rest of the building. The underground garage had two stairwell entrances and an elevator. There was a helipad on the roof with a stairwell entrance to the building.**

** During the day, there were two guards at the front desk greeting people and just being there for key card mistakes, and general office security. All entrances had a key card passage. If clients came to the front, the security guards would buzz them into the lobby. The system in place had been installed over 10 years ago. Except for some minor issues, there were no problems with it. The building itself had been up for several awards for being "Green". Its entire roof and one side were covered with solar panels, not including the helipad. The building's lights all worked from these panels. The security system was on a different circuit. The placement of solar panels was part of a study the University was doing to see how effective they would be in a working environment. The study for the building was also missing from the break-ins, possibly making the rest of the theft a cover for what someone was really after, but no one knew if this was connected. **

**Ramon and Hal were taking notes as we walked the floors of the building with the guard. The stairwells in the building could not be key carded b****ecause of fire safety issues**. You had to be able the get downstairs if there was an emergency. But, you could not enter the stairwell from outside or downstairs in the lobby without one. The elevators did not have any card access. Once in the building, you could come and go as you pleased. It was open to the public, the law offices had clients. It had to be easily accessible to normal individuals. The Helipad on the roof was key card access only. The freight elevator and the service doors were also key card. All the security was in place for the tenants. The Law firms here dealt with high profile clients, and not only did the firms request the security, so did the clients themselves.

**I asked, "What if they electricity goes out in the building, or there is a computer glitch?" **

"**If the electricity goes out," the guard said. "The key cards still work; they are on a separate system. It switches to battery."**

"**What if that system does not go on?"**

"**That has never happened, that I know of. If all fails, the system turns off and the building is open to whoever would like to play with it." **

"**What about the alarms in the building?" Ranger asked. **

"**There is**** normal fire alarms. They're checked monthly to make sure they're working; There are also alarms for carbon monoxide and other poisons. The windows all have alarms. Doors that could be tampered with have alarms, and we have the guards during the day. Each of the entrance guards walk the inside of the building twice. We also have two floors that are government offices. They have their own armed guards, but none of the break-ins were on those floors." **

"**What do they do on those floors?" Hal asked.**

"**It is suppose to be FEMA offices, but I can't be sure of what they do here. The guards for those floors are friendly, but they don't share what happens in their offices. I can only assume they are normal work places and have normal staff. I never see secret agents walking in or anything." He smiled at his own humor. **

"**Look," he said,**"**t****here is not a lot going on here. We have law firms in the building, and government offices. Very little activity at night, and during the day it is all about getting someone's car keys, walking people out of the building who get fired, directing clients to the right floor,and helping when key cards don't work."**

"**When key cards don't work, what do you do?" I asked. **

**Just then, he stopped talking and asked us to wait. He listened to something. I realized he had an earpiece in his ear. **

"**Someone just tripped the alarm on the third floor." **

**I looked around, no Ramon. **

**Ranger used his cell and called him. **

"**While we were talking," Ranger said, "Ramon accessed twelve rooms, hit two safes,unlocked five secure passageways and went to the rooftop. He is on the roof now, and your alarm just tripped the wire on the third floor. Someone's been tampering with your security doors or the system is on a delay."**

**Alarms suddenly went off in the entire building. It had given Ramon a full twenty minutes to walk the building and pretend to steal. **

**Two security vehicles came into the parking lot ten minutes later. That kind of time frame would give whomever was in the building enough time to walk the floors,eat a snack, and steal whatever they came in to do before anyone even knew there was a problem. **

**We went to the main foyer and checked the cameras. They were all working, but showed Ramon just getting to the fourth floor. Instead, he was standing next to us, watching himself pass through the camera's lens.**

"**Well," Ranger said, "at least we know how they got in and out without getting caught." **

**It was late when we finished up with the building. Rangeman would send out someone in the morning to get access to all the security camera data and figure out how to get the system working without a delay. It would be our job to create a safer security system or use the one they had more efficiently. It was after 4am. It had been a really long night. I was tired, and I could tell I wasn't alone with that feeling. Since we had been back, I had rarely seen the sun. I felt like I had turned into one of the walking dead and if I looked in the mirror I would be a pasty representation of myself. All of us had been worked to death lately. Tank went home to get some sleep, and we drove back to RangeMan. **

"**Is it safe to say that you are sleeping at Rangeman? I don't know how much fun I will be, but I make a great pillow." He said, as we drove into the underground garage.  
**

**Before I could even answer, Ranger got a weird ring tone, and he looked down at his phone. **

"**Shit. Are you kidding me?!"**

**He called upstairs to the third floor. **

"**Are you serious?" He yelled in his phone. I had never heard Ranger lose his cool before. It was fascinating. **

"**You're telling me that?" He listened for a few more seconds then hung up.**

**He gave me an impatient glance and contemplated his thoughts. **

"**There is a problem on the 7th floor. It appears I have company. I have never had company up there, but you. And now it seems like every one is traipsing around. I don't have a doubt that this person could break code and go into any place she wanted. I just underestimated her response from breaking things off with her. **

**I shifted in my seat. I knew who he was talking about. **

"**You were sleeping with Jeanne Ellen? She was one of the three?"**

**He didn't even need to say anything. It was obvious. **

"**What was your reason for breaking up with her?" Stupid question! I thought.**

**I tried again. "I mean, what did you tell her?" **

"**I told her it was none of her business." **

**Eeee. I hated the, "None of your business line."He had used it on me a couple of times, and it immediately pissed me off when he had. And if it had that effect on me, imagine what it would do to cat woman? It was the worst. **

**Ranger was clearly distraught. "All of the sudden I'm in hot water twice in one day."**

**I tried to speak in a calm tone; it worked sometimes with Lula and with Joe.**

"**Telling someone something is none of their business, when clearly it had been in the past, is not the right approach. Girls don't really appreciate that line, Ranger."**

"**I'm figuring that out. I am a fast learner, but I have never had to deal with this before. Give me a fuckin' break already."**

**I found it hard to believe Ranger never had to deal with this before. I sat there in silence. Three women. All seeing Ranger. One being Jeanne. Crap. She already d****espised me. I was suddenly afraid for my Jeep.**

**Ranger was back on the phone. He listened for a moment, and then hung up.**

"**What do you want to do?" I asked.**

**He took a deep breath, and looked out the window at the elevator. "I don't want to sever ties with Jeanne. She has contacts. She is vital in your corner when you need her. This is turning out badly." We just sat there. I didn't know what he was thinking. ****I wondered if Ranger had played chess lately. I started shifting around in my seat. I am not great at confrontation, but it beats the hell out of walking on thin ice forever, harboring ill feelings, and sticking your head in the sand. As I had been doing lately. Damn. I should talk to her.**

**"Fuck it, I am going up there." I said.**

**"That's not a good idea." He said, shaking his head and laughing.**

**"Well. I think it is." **

"**No, it isn't."**

**I was getting mad. I didn't like to be told no. If I went up there, maybe she would get the hint and leave. She had to understand that she was being dense. Why shouldn't Ranger want to eventually end his booty call sessions with her? What was her problem, anyway? This was not my call, and clearly not my business either. But I had started it, and I wasn't really one to just let it go. I had to keep going. I mean, right? Shit. Plus, there was a possibility that she would leave if I talked to her. She seemed reasonable. If Ranger has decided to be with me, shouldn't I stand up and do the "girl thing" and fight for him? I wasn't sure the jury was in on that one yet. But I was tired, and I really needed to go to sleep, and she was stopping me from curling up in his sheets. I wanted them. Now.**

**"This isn't just going to go away." I said. "This is your call Ranger, your life. You started this, you need to have the balls to finish it." Yeah! I said to myself. Thinking I was making a good point. **

**I looked at him, and realized I had said the wrong thing. I think I startled him. I held my breath. **

**"The balls?!" He paused. I was trying to decide if we were now fighting. It was not where I was going with that statement. It was supposed to inspire him to let me go up and talk to her, woman to woman, not get a reaction like the one I just got. **

"**Ok Stephanie. Let's go see Jeanne. Let's just see how you feel once she has left the building."**

**He got out of the car fast. I was kind of afraid. He came over to my side, and pulled me out of the car, literally. Grabbed my hand and pulled me along after him. I was thinking I may have pissed him off.**

**Ranger can really walk fast when we wants to. My leg was starting to hurt as I had to run to keep up with him.**

"**Fuckin' wait. Shit!" **

**He turned around, and almost screamed at me.**

"**No, you wait. You are the one that wants to go up there, not me. Look Stephanie, This woman and I have had a sexual relationship for over twenty years. I don't know what I am doing anymore. This is all new territory for me. I just asked her to back up and give me some room. She asked why? I said it was none of her business. It IS none of her business. If I go up there, I make it her business. Then it becomes a real problem". **

**I did some calculations in my head. Twenty years. He is the same age as I am, Thirty three. I stopped for a moment. "Wait, are you saying that she has been sleeping with you since you were 13 years old?" **

**Ranger paused. He took a deep breath. "Yeah, Stephanie, that is what I am fucking saying." **

**I knew Jeanne was older than we were. But I wasn't sure just how much older. **

"**How old is she, Ranger?" **

**He turned to me and stopped walking. **

**"She is forty-nine Stephanie. Ok? FORTY GOD DAMN NINE!" Ranger was screaming now. He had clearly lost his noodle over this. This was huge to him. I had opened a can of worms I did not even realize existed. **

"**Look," He yelled. "I can't have this conversation with you IN THE GODDAMNHALL! Fuck. This is Personal!" He screamed. He was almost shaking. I had never seen him freak out before. I wasn't sure what the hell to do. **

**I looked at the elevator. I wanted to go up there and kick the living shit out of her. Instead, I called Lester. What else do you do to protect a child? I felt that Ranger had been somehow manipulated by a grown woman twenty years before. I needed to get this one for him. **

"**Lester, I said. "This is Stephanie. You need a team to go up to the seventh floor and eject that woman out of the building. Now. We don't want to see her. She needs to be escorted down. If she won't come down, tell her you will call the police and have her taken out by force. By the book, boys. Let's get her off the property."**

**I was really pissed off. I felt like I took charge of a situation that needed fixing. It really felt good. I had no idea who Ranger was, or what kind of childhood he must have had. I think it was cut extremely short by Jeanne Ellen. Having Jeanne in your corner was not worth what he had given up.**

**Ranger slid down the wall. He looked like he had just said something that had bothered him for a really long time. I wasn't sure what to do, except just sit there with him. He was sitting with his back against the wall and his legs out in front of him. I heard screaming and some freaking out, but it was in another hallway, away from us. We were both listening intently, wanting to make sure nothing bad happened. Hal called about thirty minutes later. **

"**We had to taze her. She is as mean as a snake. Lester called the police. They are going to take this one. I don't want Les Seabring on my ass about this." **

**I thanked him, and hung up.**

**Ranger grabbed my hand, and pulled me up with him. We didn't talk. He just held my hand as we walked to the elevator. **

"**I am having a hard time with the way this day has gone. Let's get some sleep."**

**We went up to the 7****th**** floor. The door was still open. There were things knocked over, and a lot of broken glass. In the bedroom, there was a lot more destruction. The bed looked destroyed. She had taken a knife to it. Ranger pulled everything off the bed and flipped the mattress over. He kicked off his boots, pulled all his clothes off and grabbed my hand, pulling me into the bathroom with him. We took a hot shower together. Kind of just together, more than a full on sexual love fest. But he did wash me.. That was nice. We got out of the shower, replaced the bed sheets, and fell into bed together. Ranger held on to me the entire night. I think I slept like a rock, and I never felt him move. **

**When I woke up, it was already 9am. Ranger was dressed for working at Rangeman. A cleaning crew had arrived and they had started working on the apartment. He saw I was awake. He crawled on the bed and kissed me. **

"**Did I tell you thank you for solving my problem last night?" **

**I whispered, "No." **

"**I will." He said. Brushing his lips against mine. He smiled, and kissed me. His hands ran down my body as he pulled me closer. He stopped and looked into my eyes. **** "****I have to get downstairs. We are running short this morning."**

**The night flashed before my eyes.**

"**Last night was a little crazy, wasn't it?"**

**"I am still thinking about that one." Ranger said. "I will see you later. We have things to discuss."**

**And then he was gone. Back to Batman.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

White trim and a painted lavender sign exclaiming "Vincent Plum Bail Bonds" was the only difference I could see in the details of the office that Connie and Lula had taken over more than a year ago. A younger version of Connie sat at the watch. Connie had worked for Vinnie since he opened the business. She was always at the desk in the front, usually blocking angry customers from getting too close to Vinnie. There was a semi-automatic in the top right hand drawer of the desk, and it was always loaded. The Connie look-alike was no more than twenty years old and had black curly hair that she wore in a sweep. A bottle of blood-red nail polish sat open on the desk in front of her and she was filing her nails furiously, paying no attention to the blinking lights of the calls on hold. They were no business of hers. A new desk and a dark brown leather couch replaced the worn desk and trampled vinyl couch that Vinnie had bought at auction. The second-hand feeling was gone, upgraded to slightly professional.

I couldn't see inside Vinnie's private office, but I was betting dollars to doughnuts that Connie and Lula were behind door number one. I smelled fresh doughnuts and coffee, and neither of those things were visible in the outer office.

"May I help you?" Connie Junior asked, smacking her gum between her teeth.

"I am looking for Connie Rosolli."

"Sure, she's always here. She is in the office in back."

She swiveled her chair. "Auntie Connie, someone's here to see you!" She yelled sarcastically.

She picked up the nail file making absolutely sure she hadn't missed anything.

"She'll be right out."

Lula stuck her head out the door of the office.

"Who's here?" Lula saw me. "Is that who think it is?"

Connie poked her head out around Lula's.

Lula looked like a changed woman. She had on a brown business suit with a short skirt that matched. Her hair was a color mix of blond, red, and black. It was pulled from her face with ringlets hanging down. Connie wore a suit of the same color; Almost a matching set. Her hair was black and Jersey teased. They ran towards me, giving me hugs. I had missed them. Seeing them looking so professional was all the better.

Connie introduced me to Roxanne. She was Connie's niece, and a pity hire, sort of like I had been. Roxanne had wrecked her uncle's car; she was working for Connie in hopes to pay for the damage.

We walked in to the back office. A box of doughnuts from The Donut Depot sat open on the desk. The office itself hadn't changed much. Aside from the candle burning on the table, and the family pictures on the wall, the office was the same. The smell was different. Dirty locker room was replaced with Vanilla Cinnamon Swirl. I sat down on the desk and grabbed a doughnut. All I had eaten lately was food from the Rangeman kitchen. You can only eat so many healthy breakfasts before you wither away and die. Doughnuts were a gift from God, as far as I was concerned. A dozen doughnuts called my name.

Connie sat at the desk, and Lula lounged in a tall-back office chair. We quietly enjoyed the calorie laden doughnuts.

"I wondered when you would get your ass back to Jersey." Lula said. I knew you couldn't stay away forever.

"We hang out in Vinnie's office now." Connie said. "It's so much better than working out front."

There was a stack of files on the corner of the desk near the computer keyboard. Post-it notes decorated the monitor. The desk layout was similar to how she had worked out in front. If I opened the top right hand drawer, I could guarantee her gun was there.

Lula was still eyeballing me as she ate. "You better have been sick. You've been back for days. No phone call, no nothing."

"Yeah, sick of getting shot at." Connie said. "You're still wearing your vest?"

I touched to Kevlar. "It feels safer to have it on."

"I couldn't wear one of those things." Lula said. "It would ruin my business look."

Lula had lost at least twenty pounds. She strutted across the office, showing off her new look.

"It's all this falling in love stuff. I don't want to eat. I could write a book about it. Fall in love, lose weight. It would be a best seller. You just need to find yourself someone to fall in love with. That's the tough part."

"Especially if you're already married." Connie added.

I finished off my doughnut, and went back to the box in search of another victim.

"So, Connie, how's business?" I didn't want to come off sounding desperate, but she had said that I could come back if I wanted to, and I needed to make some money. I would have a paycheck now from Rangeman, but I didn't know how I felt about Ranger and his company paying my way. It seemed too constricting. I still wanted my independence.

"Girl, you don't even know! We are doing great. I told you we had this business down. Vinnie has called, too.

He is begging for the office back. Can you believe it? He wants to come back and buy us out. We celebrated our first quarter out of the red and almost in the black. We don't need his little weasel butt back here."

Connie cut in. "We probably will partner with him, though. He won't have control of his books anymore, they were a joke, but he did pull in some high bond clients that won't call without him here."

Vinnie had installed a two-way mirror in his private office. It was a security feature that was very useful. Two men walked in. One had sandy brown hair. He was tall and thin, and he walked with a swagger that suggested he was trying too hard to be cool. He wore dark blue jeans over an old pair of cowboy boots. A utility gun belt held his Glock tight against his hip. Handcuffs were shoved in the back pocket of his jeans. I placed him at about thirty-six. He looked like he could have jumped right out of a television show about plain clothes cops. "Miami Vice" for the two thousands. His partner was shorter than he was, by about two inches. Instead of jeans, he wore army surplus cargo pants and boots. He didn't have the swagger. Instead, he moved with a relaxed saunter. He had dark brown hair, and had more of a Jersey attitude than Miami did. They stopped and talked to Roxanne.

"Who are those people out there?" I said, watching them from the two-way.

"That is Santos and Nick. We put the word out with Les Seabring that we needed some people. He sent them over. They don't have the numbers that Ranger or you had, but they are doing Ok."

Les Seabring was in direct competition with Vinnie's bonds office. He had bigger clientele, and did more child protection bonds. Les employed Jeanne Ellen. She usually handled the protection bonds. I had to go up against Jeanne a few years ago, she won. No one wanted to mess with Les Seabring. He ran a tight ship, was in good with the Mayor, was a genuine nice guy, and he had the honest to God best legs in New Jersey. I had seen them personally. I agreed with the statement.

You had a pretty high capture rate. I think it was seventy-five percent. That is big." Connie said.

"Yeah, but it means I lost twenty-five percent."

"Seventy-five percent is excellent, Stephanie. No joke. Those are good numbers."

"What about Ranger?" I said. What rate did he have?"

"He did ninety-eight percent."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Look, Ranger is a primo bounty hunter. You came off the street after being laid off from pushing ladies underpants. The fact that you have a seventy-five percent capture rate is not lost to him, or to us. Plus, you still are better than any of those clowns." She said.

I sat there thinking about ninety-eight percent capture ratings, and my pretty damn good seventy-five percent. Connie picked up a coconut frosted chocolate. I glanced again at the files on the desk. They seemed to be like the elephant in the room, just sitting there. It was quiet in here, but out front, calls were on hold. Lula and Connie were hanging out, eating doughnuts. Nick and Santos sat down at one of the computers, doing some research.

Connie put the doughnut box on top of the files. I eyed it suspiciously.

It was too good to be true. Something wasn't right. Things were too perfect.

"Ok, what are you not telling me?"

Connie and Lula looked at each other. She sighed.

"Well, ok, fine." She said. "We can't find any of the skips. We had to hire those two clowns. They are both from out of town. So far, they haven't found anyone. Half of the bonds go through without a hitch, the other half are sitting in that pile right there." She picked up the box of doughnuts, and the pile seemed to grow. Making them appear larger and more profound than before.

"What do you mean; they haven't found any of them?" I said. "Not one?"

I was at a loss for words. My jaw dropped. I even put down the doughnut I was eating.

"How many have skipped?"

Connie looked at the files on her desk. "Well, I think we have close to fifty." She said, still eating her doughnut. There was no panic on her face, but denial, it was there. I knew what denial looked like. Vinnie would have our heads if there was that many FTA's out there.

FTA meant"Failure to Appear". That is exactly what all fifty of these clients were doing. They were skipping out on the bond agreements. Vinnie's would be out of business; Lula and Connie would be on the street in less than a month if these people were not picked back up again.

"You have fifty skips?" I said. Thinking they must be pulling my chain. The bonds office needed to stay open; it was my shot at feeling halfway normal again. Connie stopped eating her doughnut when they saw the look on my face. "It's not as bad as it seems. Most people show up to court. We are just having bad luck."

"We were going with the honor code. Mostly it was working, till you pointed out the fifty on the desk." Lula said in a huff.

"Ok." I said, trying to keep a positive attitude as I paced the floor. I was positive they were up a creek without a paddle if this wasn't fixed, was more like it.

"We can do this, if you guys help me. FTA's are not coming in, because no one is making them. Give me the ones whose bonds are running out soonest. Lula, you are going to have to help me go after these people. Connie, you are going to call and see if Vinnie is back in town yet."

"He Is." She said. "He called to let us know."

"Then tell him if he wants to partner up, he needs to get his ass over here and help." I looked out the two-way at Connie Junior. "I hate to tell you this, but you're going to have to fire Roxanne, unless she wants to work for free. I don't think you can afford extra employees."

"Ok, geez." Connie said as she started picking up the doughnut boxes, throwing them away.

We separated all the open files into three piles, putting the ones that needed to be taken care of first on the top. Vinnie would work with Nick and Santos. I would work with Lula; Connie would manage the office and the filing. The remaining pile would go to Rangeman. Vinnie's group would take twenty, we took twenty, and the last ten would be handed over to Ranger.

Twenty files were more than I ever had at once. I tried to separate the files evenly for both piles. We both had some bad guys, and we also had some easy captures.

"I called Vinnie." Connie said. He said he was ready to come back to work, anyway. He still needs to kiss and make up to Lucille's father, but his balls are no longer in danger. Lucille decided to forgive him, and she believes the story about the hooker wanting bail money for her brother. She's lonely, driving her father crazy. He practically begged Vinnie to move back in, so he didn't have to deal with her anymore.

"Tell him if that website isn't down by the end of the day, I am suing him."

"What website?" They both looked up from the stack of files, curiously.

"Just tell him. I'll explain later."

I grabbed my twenty files, and headed for the door. I turned and glanced at Lula. "You are helping me with these."

Lula grabbed her shoulder bag.

"If I am helping you, then we need to stop by my place. I need to change into my bounty hunting clothes. No way am I ruining these clothes. These are professional clothes. Plus, all my special apprehension paraphernalia is at the apartment."

"What paraphernalia?"

"Well, let's see. I have handcuffs, furry and regular. The furry ones are in case someone is cute. Plus I bought new running shoes, a new triple power tactical stun gun that is illegal in eight states, and has three extra battery packs. I also bought a pink pair of super spy binoculars with night vision."

I knew extra handcuffs were good, and the binoculars might come in handy, even if they were pink. I still was unclear as to what Lula would do with the furry handcuffs in an apprehension.

We drove over to her apartment, and my eyes cut to Lula.

"Fifty? You guys have fifty skips on the table and you were eating doughnuts?"

"Excuse me, we were eating breakfast. Plus, I tried to track them down, but they weren't cooperating!"

I tried to find fault in that statement, but I had trouble in the past trying to find people, Lula always helped. Without her pushing to go and find some of the FTA's, my percentage rate would have been a lot lower.

"We need to make them come in, or none of us are going to have Vinnie's bonds office to fall back on."

Lula came out of her apartment building wearing a bright yellow spandex shirt with dolphins on it and a slightly ass covering black mini skirt with a pair of black Reeboks. She got in and dropped her ten pound bag on the floor of the Jeep.  
"I got everything, including the furry handcuffs."

We drove into the underground parking garage at Rangeman, and I used the key fob to open the gate. Lula looked at me out of the corner of her eye.

"There has got to be a good explanation for you picking up your things at Rangeman."

"Since I've been back, I haven't had a chance to look for an apartment. Everything is still here."

"Uh huh. This is going to be a good story, I can't wait."

I rolled my eyes. I knew I would have to tell her, eventually. Then I would have to talk about it, instead of just steadily moving towards something. I wasn't sure what that was, but It felt a whole hell of a lot like love. Oh boy.

My cell phone rang as I parked. It was Ranger.

"Are you downstairs with Lula?"

"Yep."

There was silence on the line.

"Hello?"

"Babe, you aren't bringing her upstairs are you?"

"We have an emergency. No one has been picking up the skips."

"Connie called. Tank is picking up the files for ten FTA's."

"We have twenty, Vinnie and two new guys have the other twenty."

"Don't let her look for my underwear."

He disconnected.

I left Lula downstairs, and thought I would like to have my apartment back sometime soon. Staying with Ranger was nice, but I needed to give him his space back. I opened the door to his apartment. Fresh flowers were there but things were still not right. The cleanup crew had left. Most of the evidence of Jeanne Ellen's rampage was now gone. There was still some missing furniture and the sheets were still off the bed.

I started looking for all my gear. In Scottsdale, I had a method. When there was a possibility someone would spit, piss, throw stuff, shoot, stun me, or make me run through garbage, it was a good idea to dress for it. I pulled on my black cargo pants, and a white t-shirt. I put the vest on, and holstered my gun in the utility belt. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. I put my Bates boots on, pocketed the pepper spray, the handcuffs, zip cuffs, and extra ammo. I looked at myself in the mirror. Not too shabby, Stephanie. I was determined not to get hurt, or get on camera doing anything stupid. I picked up my pocket-book and headed back downstairs.

Lula gave me the stink eye when I got back in the Jeep, checking me out head to toe with a sideways glance.

"Girl, are you sleeping with that man? Un um. Never mind. I already know you are. Look at you; you are all Rangered out. Accessorized in Rangeman equipment. You even have your own parking spot, and you look all relaxed. Don't tell me your not. I got a sixth sense about these things. You smell like him too."

"It's the shower gel." I said, defensively.

"No, it isn't. It's the attitude. You're all confident and shit."

"Okay, fine. I am sleeping with him." Geez, how did everyone always know?

"Umhum, I knew it. That man is all kinds of fine. I bet he is just as fine naked too."

I raised my eyebrows thinking about Ranger naked. It was not an unpleasant thought.

"I'm telling you, if I was in your shoes…" She trailed off, thinking about what she would do in my shoes. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what Lula would do in my shoes. I don't even know what I am doing in my shoes anymore.

"You better be careful, that boy's dangerous." She pointed to her head. "He's a little crazy."

I looked over at Rangeman. I didn't think he was crazy, but I did think I was insane to believe he was normal.

I looked at the stack of files.

"Who's first?" I said, as we motored out of the underground garage.

Our first FTA was Bernie Horowitz. He lived in the same apartment complex as Grandma Mazur. We sat in the Jeep looking over at Shady Acres. I had parked under a tree on the opposite side of the street. I realized too late there was a good reason no one parked here. Bird poop splattered my windshield. Lula's eyes got big and she looked up. I turned my head, following her gaze, just in time for a bird to land a large white caked splat on my head. Lula grabbed the files, put them over her head, and ran from the Jeep into the clear. Away from the dangerous tree. I fired up the Jeep and whipped out of the parking space. I moved the Jeep up the street and tried to get the poop off me.

"Do you think bird poop might be good for your hair?" Lula said.

I took a look in the mirror. One big glob ran down the side of my head, catching in my hair as its mass oozed down in greasy layers. Yuck. Another yellow and brown glob sat on my shirt. My jeep was covered with white splats. Lula had two more on her shirt. We tried in vain to wipe ourselves clean. A car drove by. Bernie Horowitz glanced over at us as he passed. I checked the file quickly. It was him. He pulled into the lot. He parked and walked fast towards the entrance and went inside. I called Grandma Mazur.

"Bernie Horowitz?" She said to me with a tone that sounded surprisingly false. Grandma's voice changed pitch, and she whispered, "Let me call you back."

She hung up on me.

That was strange. I looked at the file on Bernie. He had lived at Shady Acres for eight months. He resided on the second floor. He was arrested for assault. Bernie had punched his best friend, Carl Maddox in the nose after a heated argument over two women. Carl called the cops and had Bernie arrested. Two women? Uh Oh. The two witnesses to the assault were listed as no other than Edna Mazur and Bella Morelli.

Grandma called me back a few moments later. "I can't help you with Bernie. It would be a conflict of interest."

"A conflict of what interest?"

"Of our interest. Both Bella and I have been seeing Bernie, and we don't want him to go to jail. It would ruin everything."

"He needs to get a new court date; He is breaking the law by not taking care of this. You can have him back, after. I'm coming up. What apartment are you in?"

She hung up.

Lula looked at me. "Did your own Grandmother just hang up on you?"

"Yeah, twice!"

I told her what Grandma had said.

"Bernie is one crazy guy. Seeing both your Grandma and Bella? He's a wild one."

"We need to go get him. Just don't expect my Grandma to help."

According to my mother, Grandma lived on the second floor of "The Shady Acres Phase Two Apartments for Senior Living". I knocked on her door.

"Grandma, I know you're in there, open up."

I heard breathing on the other side of the door, and shuffling. The door opened a crack. A security chain was firmly in place. Grandma's nose poked out.

"He's here. He doesn't want to go to jail. He has a poker tournament tonight."

"If he didn't want to go to jail, why didn't he just show up for his court date? Ask him that."

"I don't need to." she said defiantly.

"He was here, with us. We told him we would take care of it, and make Carl drop the charges."

"And?"

"Carl said no. He is mad because Bernie stole his girl, and broke his nose. He wants him to pay for it. He needs to have it reset. Bernie needs to go to the tournament tonight to win the money to give to Carl. It's all set."

"What makes Bernie think he can win?"

"He's real good. He always wins. Come back tomorrow. Bernie will come with you, he promises."

I looked at Lula. She shrugged.

"Tomorrow's good with me."

I looked at Grandma, with her pink hair poking through the door.

"Tomorrow, he better be ready."

Two weeks later, Bernie Horowitz was still FTA, but Lula and I were feeling pretty damn good. We had picked up all but four of the twenty files we had been given. Vinnie's team had five left, and I was pretty sure Ranger's team had been done days before that. I was still having a hard time believing that Lula couldn't find some of these people by herself. Clearly her head was not in the game when it came to skip tracing. I was getting my old apartment back. I talked to Kenny. He said that because of its history, he was having trouble renting it out anyway. I could move back in anytime. It would be nice to have my own space. I was getting comfortable living with Ranger. It was too easy; I wasn't ready to move in without a commitment, and I never actually got any kind of green light from Ranger about living arrangements, anyway. Plus, what would my mother say? She would have a fit if she knew I was living there, and it felt like that's what was happening. Then, he would be required to come over for Sunday dinners. I didn't think that would go over well with Ranger, or his life.

We had our backs pressed to the wall of a solid brick and mortar building. Pauley Bostitch already fired a round through his front door in an attempt to scare us off. He was next on the list. If we didn't pick him up, Vinnie would be ahead of us in points. It was starting to become a high stakes game between us. My team consisted of Lula and yours truly. Vinnie had Santos and Nick. Three against two. So far, we had been pretty lucky and we were ahead by one. We had to make the capture. Vinnie called moments before telling us if all went right, they were bringing in number sixteen. Four more to go for them. We would be tied. The prize for who finished first was up to two hundred bucks. I wanted that two hundred big ones. Lula would get half. A hundred bucks would buy me some time with Mr. Alexander. He was the best hair stylist in Trenton. There was a month wait for an appointment with him, and if you didn't call him Mr. Alexander, you might as well forget your appointment all together. I was in dire need of some salon time. I had made the appointment already, in lieu of our cash prize. The Arizona heat fried my hair. I needed that appointment, and that hundred bucks.

"So, what now?" Lula whispered.

Pauley Bostitch had been arrested for attempted murder. He had accidentally given the wrong pills to Mrs. Kowalski, and she had broken into hives and filed charges against him. According to him, he was under a lot of pressure. Mrs. Kowalski had been screaming in his ear. He claimed temporary insanity and they arrested him. As the court date loomed closer, he probably feared the worst, thinking he was going to jail. Attempted murder was usually something that Ranger would have taken, but it somehow ended up in our pile. The bond was not high enough to warrant Ranger's team to go after him.

After someone tries to shoot at me, I usually leave, but Pauley is my pharmacist. I was hoping that when he saw it was me, that he wouldn't shoot. I was wrong not to give my name when I announced "recovery agents. " The lead from the attempt to shoot at us was still rolling around on the ground next to Stanley's destroyed front door.

"Mr. Bostitch, its Stephanie Plum. Don't shoot me."

"Hello, Stephanie. Um. How did the cream I gave your mother work?"

"It worked great, Mr. Bostitch. Thank you for recommending it."

"You know, there are all kinds of herbal medications out there. You just have to be careful of some of them. They are all located on isle six, you know. Right next to the antacids."

"Ok thanks, Mr. Bostitch. I'll remember that."

Lula was staring at me. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Mr. Bostitch, I need you to come down to the police station with me. We need to set a new court date."

Silence followed.

"Mr. Bostitch?"

"Mrs. Kowalski is a bitch. It was temporary insanity. She made me pick up the wrong bottle. She was yelling at me. It could have happened to anyone."

"You need to talk to your lawyer, Mr. Bostitch. I am sure you can get this worked out."

"I don't even have a real lawyer. The court gave me a name of a woman who won't even answer the phone."

"I know a good lawyer, Mr. Bostitch." Kind of.

"If you come down with me, I can send him to talk to you. Would that be ok?"

There was more silence.

"Ok. Sure. Can you call him now?"

"Sure. Sure, I can. Just drop the gun, and we will talk about it." I gave Lula a thumbs up.

We both heard the gun drop.

"Can you walk out here to us?" I said

Pauley walked out and lit a cigarette.

"I destroyed my door."

I looked at the damage.

"It's Ok. I'll send over your new lawyer, he will get you a new door too." Albert would do just about anything to get a client, including carpentry.

We handcuffed Pauley, got him in the Jeep and drove him over to the cop shop. Eddie Gazarra as at the desk. Since I had been back, I hadn't had to talk to him. I was still harboring ill will over his video. That one stupid move landed me in so many pots of hot water, I wasn't sure if I was out of them all yet. I plucked the body receipt out of his hands.

"Geez, Nice to see you too, Stephanie."

I narrowed my eyes at him, and leaned on the counter.

"Don't think that I don't remember what you did to me, Eddie. That video of yours has you officially off my Christmas list forever."

"Stephanie, it was a stupid video. You're still pissed about that?"

I stood there is silence. I wanted to scream. I wanted to bite his head off. I wanted him to know just how much that one video had changed my entire existence.

The FBI is going to want to talk to you, Eddie. I hope you made a copy.

Eddie flushed.

"The FBI? What, because I shot a video of you?"

I put the receipt in my pocket and walked out. Vinnie was still behind us in captures. I pulled out my phone and made the call. We had bagged our seventeenth man.

To celebrate, we drove over to Cluck in a Bucket. Lula got a snack box of chicken and I got an apple pie.

While we ate, I looked at the file for the next person on our list. Sasha Blankowitz . We were saving her for last, but she lived the closest. She had a nice apartment in a complex off Main Street. She worked at a strip club called Shorty's off the turnpike. Sasha was twenty-five years old, with black hair and brown eyes. Six foot two inches tall, and weighed 170 pounds. She had attacked a neighbor with a knife. On three other occasions, she had done the same thing. Her bond was high, and I wasn't looking forward to going after her. I wondered about her profession.

"Does it say stripper or wrestler?" I asked Lula.

"Well, it doesn't really specify either. If you ask me, she looks a lot like those crazy bitches that attacked us at The Snake Pit."

I picked up the phone and called Mary Mason.

A few years back, we needed to find someone who had borrowed Mary Mason's car. She worked at The Snake Pit as a wrestler and we ended up in an altercation with her, and some of her pals in a giant vat of mud. Since then, Mary had ended her wrestling career and opened a mystery book store next door to the bonds office. I called the store. Mary picked up on the first ring. I told her who I was, and that I needed some help.

"Stephanie, I heard you were back in town. What can I do for you?"

"Sasha Blankowitz. You know her?"

There was a pause.

"She used to work at The Pit. She got fired because she wouldn't leave her knife at home." That sounded about right.

"Are you working for Vinnie again?"

"I am for now, just helping out. How well do you know Sasha? I need her to reschedule her court date."

I heard laughter through the phone.

"Good luck, Plum. I don't go anywhere near her, or her knives, but if you're looking for a book deal, or a way to market that website of yours, you should come to me first."

Stupid website! I hung up. That website was going down.

I looked at Lula. "She won't help."

"It's just one of those days. No one ever wants to help. What is the world coming to?" Lula said.

We were already in the neighborhood, so we headed over to see Sasha Blankowitz. I knocked on the door; a giant of a woman opened it. I took a step back. Sasha Blankowitz towered over both Lula and I. She had to be more than six-two. My cousin was six-foot two. Sasha had at least two inches on him. She was dressed in bright white workout clothes with a black stripe down the side of her pants and top. She was all muscle. Her biceps were almost as big around as Ranger's. I would put her more in the class of "weight trainer", than "mud wrestler".

"Yeeah, Can I help you ladies?" She looked at us out of the corner of her good eye. Her other eye was swollen shut. She had a cigarette dangling out of her mouth, the ashes dropping on the floor as she spoke. There was a cat in her arms; it was yowling and trying to get down.

"Sasha Blankowitz?" I said.

"That's my name."

"Hi, I'm Stephanie Plum." I extended my hand, and she shook it. "This is my partner, Lula."

"Nice to meet you both. It is not every day that you see an interracial couple."

That took me back a beat, and I looked back at Lula. She had crossed her arms and was about to say something, but I motioned for her to stop.

"We represent Plum Bail Bonds. You didn't show up for court. We need to take you in, and get you a new court date."

"Get me a new court date, really?"

She put the cat down,and closed the door behind her. She leaned back and folded her arms in front of her.

"So, you two are going to bring me in, and get me a new court date. Then I would be free to go, right?"

I hesitated. "Right."

"You're lying to me." Her eyes were turning beady, and a mean look furrowed her face.

I needed to do something fast. I decided, what the hell, and went for it. I cuffed both her wrists behind her back. She was surprised; it was such a quick move that I caught her off guard. I imagined I would be over the railing and in the pool any second, so I braced myself and kept moving, like a real professional. Maybe, if you don't give them a chance to think about it. Maybe that's the key.

"Wait!" She said. My apartment! I need my bag."

I had heard that one before, and fell for it countless times. I had also heard the bathroom one too. I handed her over to Lula. She held on to her tight, leaning into her. Lula was no match for her. Sasha started squirming. Lula put all her weight behind it and held on.

"You better just stand still woman, or I'll zap you with my stun gun."

Her eyes went wide, and she fainted. I looked at Lula.

"What happened?"

"I didn't touch her." Lula said, "I swear! She fainted."

"Shit. We are on the 3rd floor. See if she has a cart or something."

"Nope, no cart." Lula said, opening the apartment door and looking in. "Maybe I could call an ambulance. They got gurneys. Maybe she needs to be checked out anyway. It would save us some sweating and panting and some plain embarrassing situations if we just call them first."

I thought about that. She had a point. I called the ambulance, and I locked up her apartment.

We were learning.

"Hey." Lula said. "Maybe we could make training videos for other bounty hunter wanna-bes. I bet we could make money off that."

That was a thought. I think we would be showing people what "not to do" more than what "to do".

Lula and I waited for the ambulance. They came and took Sasha's vitals and loaded her into the van. I handcuffed her to the gurney, and told them that I would send a police officer down to pick her up.

"We haven't ruined our clothes, and we picked up number eighteen." Lula said, giving me a high-five.

We motored over to Pino's pizza. It had been a great day. We were ahead of Vinnie by two. We pulled into the parking lot. It was full. It was Monday night. We looked at each other.

Lula Offered."Monday Night Football?"

I guess it could have been, but I had been to Pino's for Monday Night Football. It was nothing like this.

"We're going to have to go someplace else." I said.

"My stomach's growling."

I knew that Lula didn't mess around when her stomach was growling, in love or not. We parked across the lot, and went in. I opened the door to Pino's, and walked in on Joe Morelli's engagement celebration. It was a tradition at the cop shop to celebrate engagement, marriage, babies, retirements, divorce, and death at Pino's.

I had no idea what we were walking into until I saw the banner on the wall, and the people in the room. Everybody turned and stared, one by one, hitting each other until everyone in the room stopped talking.

I panicked. "Um, sorry. I guess we will eat somewhere else."

I was hyperventilating. I couldn't breathe. I could deal with this. This was real life. This was happening, and I am going to be ok with it.

Lula grabbed my arm and turned me toward the door. We walked out quickly. I knew most everyone there, even Bella. Trisha was there, and of course, Joe was there.

The problem I was having is that the banner didn't say "Happy Engagement", did it Stephanie? I said to myself. No. It didn't. It said "Congratulations!" And there was a baby rattle on that sign.

I turned and threw up next to the door. It went everywhere, including my shoes. Lula walked me out to the curb, and I collapsed on to it.

"Shit." I said, looking at my vomit covered shoes. I took them off and threw them as hard as I could against the wall.

I felt like all the wind was knocked out of my sails. My life was falling, my confidence was faltering. My head was spinning. I kept thinking that was supposed to be me. Joe and me. It was, and I ruined it. My life is a joke. I couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't do anything; I think I needed that ambulance to come back and pick me up. I was going to die, right here. My heart was dead. This was it. It was over.

"Shit." I said again. I should have stayed in Scottsdale. Why the hell had I come back? This hurt way too much.

Lula sat down next to me, and I put my head between my knees. I was still dizzy. This was it. She was pregnant. There is no net; there is no going back ever, and making up with Joe. No matter what, I would have to deal with it.

I always operated with the notion that if things go bad, Joe still would rescue me. I don't know why, but it was inside my head. And now, that was gone. I was scared. For once I did not have backup. For once, It wasn't a "maybe someday" or "in a couple years." This was real. He was not only engaged, but now he was going to be a father, and not a father to my baby. I had been back three weeks, I was still lost.

"You know what?" Lula said.

"You need a drink of water. I'll be right back."

She walked back into the restaurant as someone plopped down next to me.

It was Joe. Lula had seen him walk up behind us. I didn't.

"Shit, Steph. I didn't want you to find out like this. The guys put this together before I knew what was happening, the whole squad is here."

I started to cry. I didn't want to. Not in front of Joe, but I did anyway. He put his arm around me.

"Cupcake, I always thought this moment would be ours, I never thought that I would be in love with someone else, but I am. I'm sorry that you walked in on it, but this is my life, and I am happy. Bob is happy. Shit, I just found out I am going to be a father."

He kissed me on the forehead. "You know I will always love you, Stephanie. I hope you understand."He hugged me again, and got up and walked back inside to the party.

I watched him go. I couldn't help from wanting to change places with her, but did I really? I wiped my eyes, and got to my feet. After seeing Joe, I realized that I didn't want the same things as he did, but it still hurt. I gave him back the key to his heart, but it didn't matter, he had already changed the locks.

Lula picked up my shoes, and put them in a bag.

"You want these?"

I nodded no, and she tossed them into the dumpster. They made a thunk with a squishy sound, there was a slight smell. I knew the smell. I looked at Lula. She looked inside the trash bin.

"Stephanie. Where's that picture of the last skip we have besides Bernie? I think I found him."

After all that went on, we found one of our skips dead in the dumpster, behind Pino's Pizza. I was not about to go back into the party, so I called 911 and reported it. The dispatcher informed me that seventy-five percent of the vice cops and detectives were in the same parking lot as I was. I knew that.

Three minutes later, the entire party came outside. Three cop cars pulled up. Lula tried to leave, but she and I were informed that we needed to give statements to the investigators. We stood there in silence, waiting in the middle of the flashing lights and chaos.

Trisha and Joe were standing together, watching as the body was removed from the dumpster. I glanced over. She was glaring at me. Then, she let go of Joe's hand and stomped over to me.

"Uh oh," Lula said. "Not good."

Trisha had her hands on her hips. Her face was red, and she looked angry.

"Stephanie! Are you fricken crazy? The moment you stumble back into town, you find A DEAD body at my congratulations party? Is this real?" She turned to one of the police officers.

"I want her fingerprinted. She dumped that body here. I want her arrested. This woman is nothing but trouble."

Joe stood back, trying to stay out of it. He knew it was not my fault that dead guys and I had a relationship. I found dead guys all the time.

"Lula found Kevin Yukowski, not me."

Lula looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Nuuh. No, I didn't. I am an innocent bystander. I didn't find shit. You're crazy. I need to get outta here. I've gotta pee. Excuse me."

Lula turned tail and took off fast for the entrance of Pino's. I thought it might be a good idea if I went into Pino's to check on her. We would wait inside for the detective to get our statements. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth for a good five minutes. Lula was sitting at one of the tables when I came out. It was a shame to just sit there without ordering. We were both still hungry. Lula couldn't stand it. She ordered drinks and meatball subs for both of us. It could be an hour before we get to talk to anyone, so I called Connie and told her about Kevin, and that he was number nineteen. One to go. We had picked up everyone except Bernie. She said Vinnie had two more he couldn't find, so we had a couple of days to pick him up, we were way ahead. Ranger had come in to drop off the body receipts for his ten, and then added that something was different about him. She couldn't put her finger on it. He was nicer.

I told her about the disaster that was happening at Pino's, and that we had to wait for the police. We had ordered food. I asked if she wanted to come have some dinner with us. Pino's was pretty empty because everyone was outside. She said she would grab her bag and be right over.

Connie came through the back. She saw the banner and almost choked on her gum.

"Holy cow, someone threw up out back, It's really disgusting. They should hose that down before it gets worse."

"That was Stephanie." Lula said.

"You ok?" Connie asked.

The thing is, I think I was. I knew I wasn't ready for a baby, or to settle down and be a cop's wife. I think I was better than ok. I felt relieved.

We cleared off the "Congratulation" party favors and started eating our sandwiches. Pino's made the best meatball sandwiches in the entire state. I was feeling much better; confident that I was moving in the right direction. The party started coming back into the restaurant. Trisha came in first. She was talking and laughing. Then she stopped and looked over at us.

"You!" She said with a tone close to hysteria. "What are you still doing here?" She acted like she was going to blow a fuse. I had a meatball in my mouth. She shocked me with her outburst. I couldn't swallow. Standing next to Trisha was a pretty girl with dark hair. She put a hand on Trisha's shoulder.

"Trisha, I'll take care of this. Just go back out and look for Joe."

She sauntered over to our table and sat down. Trisha went back outside to look for Joe. Probably to tell him that I was still here and that I should burn in hell. She picked up a pickle that had dropped out of my sandwich, and ate it.

"So, you're the notorious Stephanie Plum, huh?"

I had a mouthful of meatball sub. I was trying hard to chew fast, so I could speak, defend myself, or something. I had taken a ridiculously large bite. I tried to swallow it down, and choked. I coughed. She made me nervous. Marinara sauce shot out of my mouth getting Lula, Trisha's friend, and me with red sauce.

I started to laugh, swallowing the meatball as quick as I could. I couldn't help it.

Lula looked at her shirt; it had sauce all over it.

"Dang, Stephanie!" She started to laugh too, and picked up a meatball and threw it at me.

"Lula! That was an Accident!"

"Well, accident this!" And she threw a pickle at me.

I couldn't believe this; I had pickle in my hair, marinara sauce down my shirt, and in my lap, a meatball.

Connie was trying to duck as I threw the meatball back at Lula. She deserved it. The meatball hit Trisha's friend instead.

"What the hell!" She said, and she threw my coke at me. It hit Connie, drenching her.

Connie took her sandwich, and threw it at her.

Lula grabbed her drink, and threw it on me. So I took Connie's ice water, and threw it on Lula. We were laughing hard. Mustard was running down my forehead. And I was soaked in ice water. Suddenly, I noticed we were being watched. We stopped to find the whole party staring at us. Trisha was out front, arms crossed. She came over to the table as everyone came back into the restaurant to find their food and drinks.

"Stephanie" She said. "I want to introduce you to Carmen Manoso."

Connie, Lula and I stared in shocked silence at Carmen. She had pickles in her hair, and her shirt was covered in what was left of Connie's sandwich. I put out my hand and tried to say, "Pleased to meet you." But I couldn't stop laughing.

She tried to be polite back, and shook my hand laughing with me saying "I've heard so much about you."

This only made Trisha angrier, and she stomped off to join the party.

Carmen walked out with me, after we did our best to clean up. Since everyone was back inside, we decided to just wait outside for the police to finish up. Lula and Connie went to the bathroom to clean up. Carmen and I stood outside together watching the police.

"I am really sorry about that." I said, trying to find words for what just happened.

"Look, I'm going to be blunt." She said. "Don't get me wrong, I am sure you are a great person, but Trisha and Joe seem happy together. I was going to ask if you could step back and let them be, and then I realized that you couldn't help it. Things just happened to you that end up involving everyone else. I don't think it's on purpose, I think it just happens that way."

She looked down at herself. "I haven't been in a food fight since summer camp. When Trisha told me about you, I hadn't realized what a train wreck you really were. No offense, but come on."

"Sheesh. Thanks."

A train wreck? Did she just say that? I was not a train wreck. I went from walking disaster to train wreck? Great, wonderful, fine.

She walked back in the restaurant, pulling stuff out off her clothes. I didn't really appreciate the train wreck comment, and I wondered if she knew I was sleeping with her brother. I smiled. That will be a fun moment.

Finally, we had a chance to give our statements to the investigator. We were free to go. Connie said Lula could ride back with her, as long as she put newspaper down on the seats. They both wanted to get home and change, and so did I. I wanted a shower. I got into the Jeep and I watched them leave. I turned the key. It wouldn't start. I popped the hood. My battery was missing. I had a feeling I knew who was responsible for this. Batteries cost at least sixty bucks that I didn't have at the moment. I called Ranger. This was his problem.

"Yo, you're at Pino's. Are you the one who found the dead body?"

"That would be me."

"Babe, you never disappoint."

"I'm curious." I said. "Could it be possible that Jeanne Ellen is still a little angry over what happened a few weeks ago?"

"Why?"

"My battery is gone."

Silence filled the air. "Give me five minutes, I'll pick you up."

Ranger had a tracker on my Jeep. He always knew where I was. I didn't need to tell him.

When he got to Pino's, the parking lot was still full, but the party was starting to break up. Not many lookie-loos, since most of the people at this party lived and breathed crime scenes.

Ranger looked over at the cops and coroner and all the flashing lights, as he angled out of the Porsche.

"Glad to see you are still finding dead guys. I was beginning to wonder. It has been a while."

He walked over to me. A small smile lit the corners of his mouth.

"Babe, you have red sauce in your hair, and you have no shoes on."

He took a pickle out of my hair and tasted it, then pulled me to him and kissed me. "I really do enjoy having you back in Trenton."

Carmen was walking towards us. He saw her and let me go, and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well, look whose here, my little sister."

"Carlos." She said, as she walked over. "I didn't know you were back in town."

She was watching me, but talking to him.

"I've been back a couple of weeks." He paused. "You know about Edward?"

"I heard, I'm sorry." She was still staring at me.

"Stephanie, what are you still doing here? I thought you had finished doing damage tonight."

My eyes got wide. My skin started to prickle. I felt like my hair was on fire. That was it.

I walked up and got in her face. I had enough of this crap.

"What the FUCK is your problem?" I said. "Do you _think_ I purposely made all this happen? Do you think I wanted to walk into Pino's, and find out Joe was having a baby? Do you think I willed the dead body? All we wanted to do was go and get some food, celebrate for doing a good job today, and look what happens?" I waved my hands around. The Italian was coming out. I had no control of myself. "I have no car battery, I was ridiculed by some little girl who _I really _wanted to impress, I was called a fuckingtrain wreck, and a walking disaster. Plus, I ruined a celebration by finding a dead body. FUCK. I want my apartment back, I want my hamster back, and I want my fucking LIFE TO BE NORMAL! To make it worse, I am covered in marinara sauce and have meatballs in my hair!"

Ranger stood next to the Jeep, looking at his sister with contempt. She was still staring at me, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Carmen, you are going to need to figure out how to get along with Stephanie. I am probably going ask her to marry me. You and the rest of the family are going to need to deal with it."

Ranger turned his attention to me.

"You got in a food fight with my sister? I would have given my right arm to see that."

He turned and walked to the Porsche, getting out a battery and bringing it to the Jeep. He popped the hood and started hooking it up. I was standing there still huffing, but my eyes glazed over at the matter a fact statement that was just put out there. I looked at Carmen; she was clearly just as surprised as I was.

"Whatever, Carlos." she said. Then turned and walked away from us.

Ranger turned the key and the Jeep started up.

I was still in a state of "what the hell".

I looked at him in disbelief "You're probably going to ask me to marry you?"

He kissed me on the forehead, but didn't respond to my question whatsoever.

"If all she is doing is stealing car batteries, it's not so bad. Just inconvenient."

"I need to get back." He said. "Where are you going now?"

"Rangeman. I need a shower."

Ranger smiled. Sounds good to me.


End file.
